EDMONTON – A group of philanthropists and business leaders reassured council Monday that a proposed new downtown academic and cultural centre will not be a burden on the city.
The plan calls for four new theatres surrounding a large glass-covered plaza just north of City Hall and the new Royal Alberta Museum. The University of Alberta’s music, art and design departments would be a major tenant, and ongoing operations would be paid for with revenue from a new office tower and retail space incorporated into the public plaza.
Any debt needed to build the project would be taken on by the project proponents, said Jim Brown, a local developer and member of the foundation developing the project.
“The intent is for it to be a self-sustaining model,” he said.
He didn’t give a price for the project. The group is due back at City Hall April 29 with a business plan and governance model.
Brown has previously said $50 million will come from private donations, and of that, they’ve already raised $32 million.
“It’s a P4 (a philanthropic public-private partnership). The profits from this project will be put back into supporting the project,” said Dianne Kipnes, the foundation chair. “It’s a new concept. I don’t think it’s ever been done before and I think it’s amazing. I’m not surprised that it’s come out of Edmonton.”
Kipnes was co-chair of the Mayor’s Arts Visioning Committee, where the need for a series of smaller theatres was first identified. The theatres proposed in this development range in size from 200 to 1,600 seats.
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These spaces won’t complete with the Winspear, Citadel or Jubilee, said Kipnes. “I see them as adding to the Winspear. The people that we’re looking at don’t have available space. The Cite Ballet, they don’t have a permanent place to perform and a lot of the community groups, they’re working in substandard locations, places like church basements.
“We’re looking to be able to house those artists who don’t have a home and to give them a space where they can be as creative as they can be.”
University of Alberta president Indira Samarasekera also spoke before council, promising that “if the city will support it, we certainly will be a strong partner.”
The province has been pushing them to find other funding models, alternatives for renewing their existing cramped and aging facilities on the north campus. The university would count on provincial support to pay rent in the building for the long term.
Being downtown would also be great for students, Samarasekera said. “When we do performances on campus, critical musical performances, we don’t get to showcase that to members of the city. I see having practice and performance space downtown means we’ll draw other people besides the university community to come.”
Several councillors questioned the lack of hard numbers in the presentation, but were assured those would come in April. They made no commitments today.
Mayor Stephen Mandel praised the work done so far, especially the financial model.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to (board member Irv) Kipnes and his business acumen in finding ways to do things that make sense. He’s a business person first and a philanthropist second. His business person took the lead in finding a way to make this work,” said Mandel.
“This is something that (Irv and Dianne Kipnes) have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours on and a fair amount of their own personal money.”
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