Students unite over delay to Arts Center
Amanda Roth
Issue date: 2/2/10 Section: News
One of many appealing factors of the St. Catharines Region is its decorated and surmounting arts scene.
That is why, when the announcement of the Niagara Center for the Arts (NCFA) and the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MWSFPA) was to be located downtown, all those involved; students, staff and citizens alike, were enthusiastic about the opportunity this would pose for the furthering of the arts scene.
"It's not just because I'm writing my thesis on arts and creativity in urban environments," said Kahlin Holmes, a Dramatic Literature undergraduate student. "But also because of the sense of potential I felt when I moved downtown almost two years ago, that this project is close to my heart."
In a recent contribution to the Opinion Section of the Brock Press, Rosemary Hale, Dean of Humanities at Brock, talked of the partnership formed over this project - a project that the City of St. Catharines and Brock University had taken on jointly.
This partnership is portrayed in the aspect of money as well. Outside of the generous donation of $15 million from citizen and arts enthusiast Marilyn I. Walker, the rest of the cost associated with this project was to be taken on by the partnership between the municipality, Brock and provincial and federal governments.
It was announced in May of 2009 that provincial, federal and municipal governments would provide a total of $54 million towards the project; $18 million each. However, the project coordinators have not received all that money. Specifically, the $18 million promised by the provincial government has not been received.
A petition has been started, by students, to encourage the provincial government to provide their part of the funding so that the project can get under-way.
"I'm not really interested in pointing fingers, those who are responsible will eventually have to do their job," said Holmes. "The main objective of the petition we started is to rally support for the project, ensuring that neither the province or the university have any reason to assume that this isn't important to the students or St. Catharines."
That is why, when the announcement of the Niagara Center for the Arts (NCFA) and the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MWSFPA) was to be located downtown, all those involved; students, staff and citizens alike, were enthusiastic about the opportunity this would pose for the furthering of the arts scene.
"It's not just because I'm writing my thesis on arts and creativity in urban environments," said Kahlin Holmes, a Dramatic Literature undergraduate student. "But also because of the sense of potential I felt when I moved downtown almost two years ago, that this project is close to my heart."
In a recent contribution to the Opinion Section of the Brock Press, Rosemary Hale, Dean of Humanities at Brock, talked of the partnership formed over this project - a project that the City of St. Catharines and Brock University had taken on jointly.
This partnership is portrayed in the aspect of money as well. Outside of the generous donation of $15 million from citizen and arts enthusiast Marilyn I. Walker, the rest of the cost associated with this project was to be taken on by the partnership between the municipality, Brock and provincial and federal governments.
It was announced in May of 2009 that provincial, federal and municipal governments would provide a total of $54 million towards the project; $18 million each. However, the project coordinators have not received all that money. Specifically, the $18 million promised by the provincial government has not been received.
A petition has been started, by students, to encourage the provincial government to provide their part of the funding so that the project can get under-way.
"I'm not really interested in pointing fingers, those who are responsible will eventually have to do their job," said Holmes. "The main objective of the petition we started is to rally support for the project, ensuring that neither the province or the university have any reason to assume that this isn't important to the students or St. Catharines."
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