Dear Editor:
Scenery Slater wrote in her response (to a call from the District of West Vancouver for public input on its Waterfront Concept Plan) that there is a real disconnect between the staff at West Vancouver and the stakeholders in the arts community.
Representatives of various arts groups witnessed that on April 27. We were invited to a “consultation” that was not a consultation. Staff at West Vancouver have prepared a summary of a survey (310 responses) regarding the plan. There will be a public presentation at Kay Meek Centre on May 9 and a presentation to council on June 13.
Their first recommendation is the demolition of Lawson Creek Studios, a building that has been refurbished with thousands of taxpayer dollars and which stands solidly between the creek and the playground, not threatened by high tides, not needing new dollars at present. Hundreds of artists, drama students, wood carvers, meditators will be without a home by this fall.
No other options have been provided. Years away, there may be an arts centre when (other) old homes, still occupied by families, are demolished. In the meantime, the link that has been established between the arts community and those who walk the seawall will be broken, our groups will lose heart and our hearts will be broken.
Come to our art show at the West Vancouver Community Centre on Sunday, May 1, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Please come to talk to the artists, who are all members of the North Shore Artists’ Guild. Find out what it will really mean to those of us who need Lawson to meet, to paint, to share ideas.
Come and see what we, mostly hobby artists, are offering to this community. Talk to the people who come to look at our art – some buy, some just come for a day out. Come and see what will be lost.
Susan Thomas
North Vancouver
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