THERE will be no large new gallery built on the waterfront in West Vancouver following public condemnation of the plan floated this summer by private arts groups.
The Arts in Ambleside Advisory Commission presented the vision for an "arts precinct" along Argyle Avenue to council in July, suggesting it could be anchored by a large gallery and administrative space at the current site of the Ferry Building Gallery. The commission took the plan to the public over the summer at the Harmony Arts Festival.
The results of the feedback will be presented at the Oct. 17 council meeting, however Mayor Pam Goldsmith-Jones has already said one thing is clear: a new large, waterfront arts facility is off the table.
"We've certainly reaffirmed this whole community's love of the waterfront, (and) appreciation for councils of the last 40 years for acquisition of those waterfront lands," Goldsmith-Jones said at the Oct. 3 council meeting. "We've also recognized that to build any large building on the waterfront is not going to really meet with approval by the community."
She suggested arts groups will look at lands in commercial areas instead, and pointed to a silver lining in the process. "I would like to salute the arts groups who worked so hard to put this on the public agenda. I think they are going to benefit now because there is a West Vancouver awareness of the need for an art gallery."
Goldsmith-Jones' comments came after a presentation by members of West Vancouver Historical Society, including former councillor Rod Day, in opposition to one aspect of the proposed arts facility - the moving of the existing Ferry Building Gallery.
They said heritage should be a respected part of any new arts facilities, though Day was careful to support the goal of a new arts facility in principal and suggested further study of other locations.
