A proposal for a donor-funded arts centre on municipal land in the 1600-block of Bellevue Avenue received unanimous support at a District of West Vancouver council meeting Monday.
Before the $25-million centre can consolidate the West Vancouver Museum and the Ferry Building Gallery in a three-storey structure, the arts facilities advisory committee has 12 months to finalize project details and generate public support.
"A finished design and the true program and the business plan and all that stuff is all to come," said Brent Leigh, deputy chief administrative officer with the district and a non-voting member of the Advisory committee.
"This is the furthest we've ever come to making this dream a reality," said B.C. Arts Council member Merla Beckerman, who served as chairwoman of the committee.
The Ferry Building Gallery would be preserved for public use, with the future of the building determined following public consultation.
"Both of the directors from the Ferry Building Gallery and the museum were on our advisory and I think they're taking a very far-sighted view," Beckerman said. "The idea that we could co-ordinate and amalgamate the community arts and class-A space seems to make sense."
The lack of both exhibition and storage space at other West Vancouver arts centres necessitates a new structure, according to Leigh.
The new arts centre would include a 3,500 square foot storage area.
The estimated cost of construction and site development for the 28,000 square foot building is $16.1 million. Construction projections also include $4.16 million for parking with another $5 million set aside for soft costs including engineering, financing, legal fees and other costs.
The land for the project is owned by the district and would be listed as an asset. The centre may be partially funded through provincial or federal grants, but the majority of the money is expected to come from private donors, according to Leigh.
The arts facilities advisory committee, that also includes former West Vancouver Coun. Michael Evison, has 12 months to secure funding commitments for the project to move forward in 2013.
"We've got a number of wonderful philanthropists on the North Shore and there's certainly been an expressed need for better facilities," Beckerman said.
When completed, the 13.5-metre high building would be directly across the street from the rear of the Safeway site, which has been earmarked by the district as a development opportunity.
The arts centre will be the "mother ship," freeing up space on the waterfront for other cultural or park-based uses, according to Leigh.
"It's very well-located to be an interface between the park area and the commercial area, so it has really good function in the centre of Ambleside to revitalize both the cultural facilities and the commercial," Leigh said.
The location is also ideal because of the proximity to land leased from BC Hydro on the other side of 17th Street, which could provide 19 extra parking spots, according to Leigh.
"It's not a property we'd expect to build on but it is a property we expect to continue to use," he said.
The arts centre will require 99 parking spaces including 50 spots in an underground parkade. The use of underground parking is intended to limit parking on Argyle Avenue.
The plan also calls for replacing the parking lot used by visitors to John Lawson Park.
The idea to bring an all-encompassing arts facility to Ambleside goes back to the 1960s, according to Beckerman, who said arts world luminaries like Jack Shadbolt favoured the project.
"Some of the movers and shakers from decades ago thought that this was a good idea, and finally the time has come," she said.
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