By Daniel Velarde
“More time” was the order of the day as Elgin Street’s planned concert hall survived a city council vote last week that could have stripped its municipal funding. Instead, council agreed to postpone the deal’s Nov. 30 deadline to the end of February.
The Ottawa Chamber Music Society (OCMS) and Morguard Elgin partnered in 2004 to construct a 925-seat community concert hall at 150 Elgin St.
The city coughed up $5.5 million for the project and the province $6.5 million, but the federal government would hear nothing of it until the project got running.
A week earlier, city council’s corporate services and economic development committee considered scuttling the city’s contribution and freeing up the money for use elsewhere in the budget.
Mayor Larry O’Brien decided instead to try to force the federal government’s hand before putting the question to a vote last week.
It worked.
Ottawa-Orléans MP Royal Galipeau appeared at the meeting armed with a letter from the Ministry of Canadian Heritage that earmarked $8 million for the project, provided the concert hall can find its major sponsor.
“All three levels of government are looking at you now, saying, ‘get it done: Get your corporate sponsor,’ ” O’Brien said.
Gloucester-Southgate Ward Coun. Diane Deans urged council to grant the extension rather than risk seeing another piece of city property scooped up by condo developers.
“This has always been an uphill battle,” she said. Now, she added, the community would unite in order “to realize the dream” of a concert hall.
Council agreed that the concert hall would help purify and revitalize Ottawa’s ugly downtown core, with benefits for arts and business.
“It’s a no-brainer,” said Bay Ward Coun. Alex Cullen. “It’ll accomplish all kinds of good things for the community.”
Even though the concert hall sits on $11.5 million of municipal and provincial funding, with $8 million more now just within reach, the organizers’ budget doesn’t add up yet. The OCMS still needs $8.5 million in private donations to reach its $38 million target.
Fundraising went idle after being caught in a Catch-22: To help seduce private donors, the OCMS waited for the big federal money to gush in, while Ottawa wanted to see the private donors on board before reaching into the public treasury.
OCMS chair Colin Cooke said that council’s 11th hour decision would give him the leverage he needs to finish the job. “The money’s out there,” he said.
“I’m incredibly encouraged by the federal government’s commitment, and I hope we’ll be able to announce the sponsor soon,” Cooke said.
The Nov. 30 limit was itself an extension from an earlier deadline the society failed to meet in September 2006. OCMS staff collected a $500,000 advance in 2006 to carry out planning and design.
Kanata North Ward Coun. Marianne Wilkinson pushed council to throw its weight behind the OCMS’s fundraising. “Let’s make sure they never have to come here and listen to all this again,” she said
“Maybe some of us are surprised to see us coming this close,” said Deans. “I can sense success at this point.”
O’Brien struck the note that the city would be washing its hands of the issue.
“I don’t think anyone wants to be the person to put the bullet in the horse as it’s lying on the ground.”
“But you have a very clear deadline – it’s up to you,” he said. “Move ahead very aggressively.”
If Cooke came back empty handed Feb. 28, council would not be prepared to rescue him again.