News
For Immediate Release:
Heritage Home of Ottawa Lumière Festival Threatened by High Costs of City-mandated Retrofit
The New Edinburgh Community and Arts Centre (NECTAR), (formerly theCrichton Cultural Community Centre (CCCC), is currently grappling with ashortfall of at least $100,000 to complete a major overhaul of its newlocation in New Edinburgh House at 255 MacKay Street. The retrofit isurgently required to bring the building into compliance with rigorous Cityand provincial building and fire codes.
Despite the comparatively modest size of the premises at New EdinburghHouse, the City has classified the building in the “large assembly” category along the lines of such public landmarks as the National Galleryand the National Arts Centre, and at a total estimated cost of close to$300,000, the retrofit now poses a major challenge to this small, non-profit community-based group which is still finding its feet in its recently purchased headquarters on MacKay Street.
While the Centre has received a significant grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation and a generous donation of labour and supplies for the project from La Cité Collégiale, the $100,000-plus funding gap continues to loom large and could threaten the future of the feisty little “Centre that could.”
NECTAR has come a long way since its early days as a one-room operation in the former Crichton Street Public School more than a decade ago. The resilient little organization weathered a famously rocky relationship with itsformer partner in 200 Crichton Street to put down roots as the home of theOttawa Lumière Festival, a major regional event attracting thousands toNew Edinburgh’s Stanley Park each summer, and to thrive and develop as alively hub for community activity and the arts.
When the Crichton School building was eventually sold to The School ofDance in 2011, the NECTAR Centre swiftly joined forces with a friendlyneighbour, MacKay United Church, to relocate its operations to the decommissioned church Manse at 255 MacKay Street, now known as NewEdinburgh House, and to lease the adjacent auditorium in Memorial Hall asa venue for community and arts programming.
With the help of the proceeds from the sale of 200 Crichton, including asignificant sum from the City based on its original contribution to the CCCC in 2000, NECTAR was able to complete the purchase of New Edinburgh House in July 2012, and to forge ahead with plans for expanded arts andcommunity programming (including a high quality After-School Care programscheduled to launch in September); the creation of a Community Gallery; the awarding of multiple Artist-in-Residencies; the installation of a colourful Community Arts Fence; and preparations for the gala 10th Anniversary celebrations of the Ottawa Lumière Festival in August.
Faced with the serious threat to its future posed by the financial burdenof the retrofit project, the Centre is actively collaborating with itscommunity partners, the New Edinburgh Community Alliance (NECA) and the Crichton Community Council (CCC) to reach out to the community, to the City and to corporate donors for immediate help in reaching its target of $100,000 as a basis for proceeding with the retrofit in the course of the summer.
Much is at stake for both the local community of New Edinburgh and thewider Ottawa arts community, and much would be lost were the burdensomecosts of city regulations to put an end to the future prospects of this remarkably tenacious community success story- not least the investment of thousands of hours of effort, creativity and commitment on the part ofcountless volunteers and supporters over the past 13 years.
For more information, or to make a contribution of funds or resources to the retrofit project at New Edinburgh House, please visit us online at www.nectarcentre.ca and contact Melanie Davis at [email protected] 613-745-2742.
