At over 80 years old, the buildings at 2880 and 2820 15th Avenue which house the Community Arts Council (CAC), are nearing the end of their life cycle.
However, in order to keep the buildings functional in the short-to-medium term, the city has identified required repairs and maintenance needed.
City staff is seeking approval from council to use up to o $260,350 from the Community Works fund for these repairs and maintenance.
The city said the CAC and their future needs will be part of the Civic Core planning process in terms of eventually moving to new spaces but will need to make these repairs on the existing building to extend its life as long as realistically possible.
The city said the administration and the CAC have been careful to clearly separate the ‘wants and needs’ to identify only those items that are critical for immediate health, safety, and building integrity only.
This includes items such as addressing building envelope issues to prevent potential water damage, repair of current water damaged areas that includes hazardous materials abatement, broken plumbing fixtures, flooring issues where safety hazards have been identified, and HVAC issues requiring resolution
Due to the age of the buildings, the city will be taking a cautious approach to ensure all work is required, does not cause additional problematic issues, and is as preventative or proactive as possible to extend the building life.
The city said maintaining this current location will ensure that current arts programming and services will continue for the residents of the city.
The CAC had a vision of moving to a Creative Hub in downtown Prince George, but the COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges regarding these ambitions.
In it’s strategic plan CAC noted that as federal and provincial funding for the proposed Creative Hub at Third Avenue and Quebec Street did not materialize, and the City of Prince George is faced with finding concurrent solutions for a replacement for Studio 2880, as well as the PG Playhouse.
On March 28, city council approved hiring consultants to create a new Civic Core Plan, based on the Smart Growth on the Ground plan adopted by city council in 2009.
“A clear plan with an action plan and roadmap is needed to target into this area and guide land use and infrastructure decisions,” said Tiina Schaeffer, the city’s manager of infrastructure planning and engineering.
“So, the goal of the Civic Core Plan is to develop a 10-year strategy, with a roadmap of prioritized land use planning and infrastructure investment considerations. The plan would develop options and review the feasibility of a multi-function use facility that may support various recreation and cultural space needs, and also works to gauge community support for implementation and infrastructure reinvestments.”
The Civic Core Plan is focused on the area of downtown around Canada Games Plaza and the Prince George Conference and Civic Centre. It will also look at the city’s need to replace the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, Studio 2880 buildings and Prince George Playhouse, all of which are nearing their end of life.
Schaefer said the report should be funded within the city’s existing operational budget, but said city staff will bring a more detailed report on the process and costs for creating the plan in the fall.
The goal is for the consultation to begin in the fall and winter of this year, and the report be brought back to city council in 2023.
- with files from Arthur Williams, Prince George Citizen
