For any community that is more than just a collection of people and the buildings they occupy, stitched together with roads, arts and culture belongs at its centre, not in some rotting shack sitting anonymously on some major throughfare.
Rotting shack is a polite description of the physical state of the Studio 2880 building on 15th Avenue. Functionally and esthetically, it may be in even rougher shape than the Four Seasons Pool, which will mercifully be decommissioned in the next two years or so.
With no political appetite for a performing arts centre or no consensus within the arts community about how everyone could all live peacefully under one roof, mayor and council have done the right thing by relocating the Prince George Community Arts Council and its various members and partners into an existing, but long empty, building downtown.
Although their new headquarters will be smaller (for now) than their current spot, the cozy confines at Third Avenue and Quebec Street will foster further collaboration between the various arts groups in a more modern structure. The more welcoming and centrally located building will also encourage more traffic and visitors.
Furthermore, including the Prince George Farmers' Market should be a win for everyone, attracting both farm-fresh food fans and arts enthusiasts to the same place at the same time.
The location is ideal.
There is plenty of on-street and off-street parking available close by, both for free and for a small charge. Downtown merchants and restaurants will benefit from increased traffic. That increased traffic, particularly in the evenings and on weekends, will serve the dual purpose of broadening healthy community activities and discouraging crime in the area.
The community arts council will now be on site to deepen already existing partnerships with various social agencies to bring art therapy and other positive programs to vulnerable populations, particularly street youth and the homeless.
The power of art, in all its forms, to offer people with no voice a form of expression to share their experience is well-documented, in Prince George and around the world. The artists already working out of Studio 2880 will now have the opportunity to share their passion with others and transform lives at the same time.
The entire city wins, not just downtown.
Once the current buildings are bulldozed, the parcel of land at 2880 15th Avenue is perfectly situated for developers interested in high-density rental housing. Although the central location would benefit everyone looking for affordable living, it would be ideal for students. The College of New Caledonia is a short walk away while UNBC is a quick bus ride up the hill.
The partnership between the city, the Community Arts Council and the farmers' market to make this new home possible will not only deepen existing relationships and foster new ones, it points to a future solution for Vanier Hall, the next arts facility in need of replacing.
First, the performing arts groups, particularly Judy Russell, the Prince George Symphony Orchestra and Theatre Northwest, need to get on the same page. If they're serious about operating in a better venue than what they currently have, they must work together.
A shared facility will certainly mean surrendering some autonomy and no one is going to get the building and location that's perfect for them. Both the current and the future Community Arts Council buildings are prime examples of that.
Individually, performing arts groups can't make a case for a new Vanier Hall, either on the current site in conjunction with School District 57 or elsewhere.
Collectively, they can be far more persuasive, particularly if they include other partners, like the school district, much like the arts council and the farmers' market now find themselves together.
Those relationships can be difficult at times, no question, but the benefits far outweigh the problems, both for the individual organizations and the community at large.
By its very presence, the Prince George Community Arts Council is going to make the downtown better for everyone. In the process, this valuable organization will make itself better for its loyal members.
The word community in their name isn't there just for decoration.
It means something.
-- Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout
