For the first time since it was founded in 1882, the Royal Society of Canada will have its permanent headquarters in a heritage house on Somerset Street, after receiving a $500,000 donation from former RSC president William Leiss.
The RSC promotes learning and research in the arts, the humanities and the natural sciences.
“The donation was significant in the sense that it enabled the Society to acquire its first permanent home,” said Louise Joly, Manager of facilities at the RSC. “The income generated from our membership enables the Society to run its regular programming, but taking on a large mortgage would have been difficult for us.”
The RSC aimed to fundraise 2.6 million dollars in order to complete the renovations, a figure of which the group has already raised $2.2 million in pledges, even though it has only been two years of the predicted five. Leiss says if it hadn’t been for these donations, it would have taken a long time to get the heritage building in reasonable shape.
“There aren’t very many institutions we have that go back to 1882. I wanted it to be more secure in its future, and for that, the most important requirement was a permanent home,” said Leiss.
Despite the renovations, the RSC has still been working out of the home, as the second and third floors have already been completed.
Louise Joly says the Society already noticed a difference, as the group has been holding some of their own meetings on site, which cuts costs for the not-for-profit organization.
The RSC hopes to have completed renovations on the heritage house by 2016.