Three of the North Shore's foremost cultural institutions should be moved into new, multi-million-dollar buildings over the next two decades, according to a year-long study commissioned by the City of North Vancouver.

The purpose of the study was to determine the best way to house the Presentation House Gallery, Presentation House Theatre and the North Vancouver Museum. The consultants, Proscenium Architecture and Lydia Martson-Blaauw and Associates, were also tasked with researching the best use of the current Presentation House site and ways to develop Lower Lonsdale into a "cultural neighbourhood."

All three institutions are currently crammed into the elderly and quirky Presentation House complex. That building started life in 1902 as the city's first schoolhouse and was later the city hall. But despite several generations of add-ons, the limitations of the structure are a major barrier for development and expansion of the arts in North Vancouver.

The solution offered by the consultants' study is to move all three bodies, one at a time, into new facilities.

First, the gallery would be relocated into a waterfront building, likely on the site of the Carrie Cates building immediately to the east of Lonsdale Quay market. The study estimates that construction of the new gallery could start as early as 2013, with doors open to the public in 2015.

With the gallery settled, the plan turns to the theatre, which, according to the study, ought to remain on the Presentation House site. A new theatre could be built on the southeast corner of the property, while the existing Presentation House building is renovated and returned to its city hall-era configuration.

Alternatively, the gallery could be located on that corner and the theatre built on the northwest corner. Both of these plans would have the new theatre opening in 2018.

Lastly, the study suggested that the museum be moved to a spot in Central or Upper Lonsdale. The two likeliest locations would either be part of the long-awaited Harry Jerome Recreation Centre redevelopment or on Lonsdale Avenue at 13th Street. This land is privately held and currently holds a Safeway, but it may be redeveloped in the coming years. The study suggested construction at one of these sites could start in 2021 and be complete by 2024.

Plans to turn Lower Lonsdale into a cultural hub are a little less concrete, and will be heavily influenced by whatever the city ultimately decides to do with the former National Maritime Centre site. The consultants did not suggest that any of the Presentation House tenants use this land, preferring to reserve it for an as-yet-unknown "major attraction."

The study suggests that the light industrial zone at the eastern side of the neighbourhood lends itself to studio space for local artists if supported by the city's zoning and taxation policy. Expert arts instruction is needed in the area, which could be developed through Capilano or Emily Carr universities.

Tourist-friendly signage and lighting would also lure "cultural visitors" to various destinations after arriving at the SeaBus terminal.

Of course none of these ventures will come cheap. After the study was presented to city councillors at a July 20 workshop, city finance director Isabel Gordon gave a sobering presentation comparing the approximate costs of these facilities to the money currently in the city's project plan.

The waterfront gallery would cost between $7.6 million and $12.3 million, depending on its size. The city so far has $2.1 million earmarked for this.

A new theatre on the Presentation House lands would have a $24.3 million price tag, of which the city currently has $4.4 million put by. Combining the gallery and theatre at Presentation House would likely cost $38.6 million.

A museum built as part of the Harry Jerome complex could run to $11.6 million, while moving it to the Safeway site pushes the figure closer to $12.7 million. The city's budget is $4.9 million so far. Gordon stressed that all these figures are based on rough, early calculations, but they illustrate the chasm between the plan's goals and the city's coffers.

Developing partnerships with private interests or public agencies will be vital to moving ahead on these ambitions, Gordon said. The sale of city land may also be needed to find the needed money.

"We need to start working on leveraging these funds," she said. "Because it will take a very long time to save up for them."