Proposed dance facility in Beltline gets $5.5-million funding pledge from city
Proposed dance facility in Beltline gets $5.5-million funding pledge from city
BY TREVOR HOWELL, CALGARY HERALD DECEMBER 6, 2013 5:00 PM
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Kathi Sundstrom, executive director of Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, says a proposed $17.9-million dance facility in the Beltline intends to “bring dance to the street and make it accessible.”
Photograph by: Ted Rhodes Ted Rhodes , Calgary Herald
A city council committee has approved a $5.46-million funding request for a proposed $17.9-million dance facility in Calgary’s Beltline.
At 3,250 square metres, the Decidedly Jazz Danceworks Dance Centre would be the largest facility of its kind in the city. It would house several dance studios, performance venues, a recreational school and community space.
“We moved into our current facility in 1993 . . . and we paid $35,000 a year in rent,” said Kathi Sundstrom, executive director for Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. “We now pay in excess of $250,000, so we can’t afford to operate where we are because we can’t expand our revenue because there are only so many studios.”
DJD is partnering with the Kahanoff Centre for Charitable Activities to build a $40-million, 12-storey building at Centre Street and 12th Avenue S.E.
DJD, which is kicking in $17.9 million for the project, would occupy the first five floors of the building through a 49-year lease.
Sundstrom said the new performing arts facility should open in November 2015 and will provide the community with additional arts space.
“Our objective was to bring dance to the street and make it accessible,” said Sundstrom.
“With seven studios, part of the philosophy and the commitment to the civic funding is that we will have one studio available for the community,” she added. “So independent artists will have more access to rehearsal space and the studio theatre.”
The $5.46 million, which still needs council approval, is through the Municipal Sustainability Initiative Culture-Related Infrastructure Fund.
The provincial and federal governments have already approved $5 million and $1.9 million, respectively, for the project. DJD has also received $1.5 million from the Calgary Foundation and $3.5 million in private donations.
If approved by council, the $5.46 million would bring DJD to 85 per cent of its fundraising goal, said Sundstrom.
Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who offer a strong endorsement for the project during Friday’s meeting, said the facility would provide a permanent home for one of Calgary’s “pre-eminent” arts companies and addresses a “dearth” of mid-sized performance space in Calgary.
“I’m more excited than anything about another 200-seat theatre being available in the community because that is precisely the sweet spot of where we have a real lack of performing arts space,” Nenshi said following the meeting.
The mayor said the project could spur development in the Beltline between the Stampede grounds and Connaught.
“This is a really, really important corridor and a huge investment in the east Beltline, in a part of the community that needs a little bit of a push in order to reach its full development potential,” Nenshi said.
“For me, this is as close to a perfect project in terms of arts space investment as we can see anywhere,” the mayor added.
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