Ottawa is not ready to sing a swan song for its long-coveted plans to build a downtown concert hall.
The arts community’s dream to construct a 925-seat concert hall on Elgin Street has yet another chance to come to fruition.
City council voted 13-8 to keep municipal and provincial funding for the project on the table last month.
Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes said the city is now looking to see whether there are any groups who have more capacity than the Ottawa Chamber Music Society to take on the project and run the concert hall.
“We hope a group will come forward and they will have the strength to go after private sector money,” Holmes said.
In February, the Ottawa Chamber Music Society, which had been spearheading fundraising efforts along with volunteers, announced it was unable to secure a private sponsor to contribute the remaining $6 million before the city’s Feb. 28 deadline.
The society received funding commitments for the concert hall from the city in 2004 and from the province in 2006 totalling $12 million.
Last November, the federal government came on board with $8 million, conditional on the society finding other funding.
The society said they failed to find a corporate sponsor because they did not have enough time with all three levels of government behind the project before the deadline expired.
In light of the missed deadline, the federal government has since pulled their funding.
Holmes said although the federal money is gone, she is optimistic the funds may be won back.
“If there is a group that comes forward and looks like they are strong and are capable of raising money, we might see it return,” she said.
Colleen Hendrick, of the city’s cultural services and community funding department, said the provincial funds have already been sent to the city and set aside in a separate account.
“If we have an alternate proposal to go forward for the concert hall, we would still need to communicate with the province for their approval to use the funds,” Hendrick said.
The city said three groups, one from the private sector and two public institutions, have expressed preliminary interest in leading fundraising efforts.
Hendrick said it will take several months for the city to assess all of the potential options.
Maggie McCoy, past president of the Ottawa Choral Society, said rescue efforts are well underway within the arts community.
McCoy said the city’s most prominent arts leaders, including former Ottawa Chamber Music Society director Julian Armour, have formed a steering committee to save the concert hall.
“We’re calling it the Friends of the Concert Hall. It’s a very strong team,” said McCoy.
While it’s too early to disclose details, McCoy said the team will be taking a significantly different approach from prior fundraising efforts, and estimated it would take about two years for them to pull everything together.
“If this doesn’t happen this time, we’re never going to get a hall in this town that we can afford to use and have the facility and space that we need,” McCoy said.
Nick Masciantonio, chair of the city’s arts, culture and heritage advisory committee, said the coalition of arts groups is determined to see the project through.
“The Chamber music got the big miracles to happen – the provincial, federal and city money and a developer came together. They just didn’t have the legs or the horses to get over the last hump,” Masciantonio said.
“We’re optimistic the community and business leaders will step forward and then we can get the levels of government back to the table.”