Tonight, Barrie City Council ratified it’s vote of last week, thus giving final approval to the revitalization of our Downtown Community Theatre at Five Points! The support was very strong with all Councillors backing it – only Mayor Aspden voted against.

Thank you to Council for its commitment. Thank you to City staff for working for us all. And thank you to the community for proving the need and demonstrating our support for this redevelopment.

Work is expected to begin soon as the timeline is tight. Check back here for updates.

Our current City Council has supported arts and culture in our city like no other before it. They adopted culture as an economic driver as one of their priorities, and showed clear vision in purchasing the old Scotia Bank at Five Points for our first Theatre. Repeatedly, this Council has stepped up to the plate for arts and culture because they understand its importance to the people, our city and our economy.

Council’s attitudes and actions have buoyed artists and arts groups. It is easier to pour yourself into your work and to make the financial sacrifices so many artists make when you feel appreciated, when you feel the backing of your city. The community has stepped up too, donating time and equipment to our Theatre, and through use and attendance. Since it opened, our only community-centred performance space has been well and innovatively used, and has prompted new series like Six Strings at Five Points.

So when staff presented a draft budget entitled ‘Doing What Matters Most’ in which they chose to leave out funding for our Theatre, thus jeopardizing a time sensitive multi-million dollar federal grant and our city’s reputation, the arts community was surprised and more than a little apprehensive. The draft budget, it appears, not only ignores one of Council’s stated priorities, but reflects an old misperception that arts and culture are a frill, a ‘nice to have.’

This idea that we ‘subsidize’ the arts while we ‘invest’ in other sectors of the economy is not new. In the recessions of the 1980s and 90s, and with Mike Harris’s Common Sense Revolution, arts and culture budgets were slashed and a huge part of our economy reeled, with parts of it collapsing. Many small and medium sized businesses – the ones that employ the people and drive our economy – went under or downsized significantly.

The reality is that in this land of drawers of water and hewers of wood, culture represents twice the economic clout of agriculture and forestry together.  Culture far outstrips the auto sector which has recently been subsidized with billions of tax dollars. Indeed, culture is equal to gas and oil extraction and mining combined. Ontario receives $2.20 for every dollar the province invests in the arts. The federal government claims higher still. If only our RRSPs performed so well.

Barrie was very fortunate to receive the offer of a grant from the federal Cultural Spaces program. Grants, at least in the arts, are not easy to get, and the idea of rejecting one is unheard of and may damage all future applications. This infrastructure money is now proclaimed by a federal funding billboard, just like the road work and other stimulus funding our city has received. The federal government is offering this investment because they understand that they will get out more than they put in. Likewise, according to our City’s own numbers, our investment of $2.5 million will result in a $4 million boost to GDP downtown in the first year alone.

Despite the fact that the numbers are on our side, the arts community is worried that culture will once again fall victim to short-sighted, bottom-line thinking based on old misperceptions. This is felt all the more acutely because our community has felt some real support from this Council. The community is concerned that if the renovation does not proceed this year, we will lose the federal funding and the revitalization will never occur. Without profession facilities, we will continue to lose our young talent and we will fail to capitalize on the economic opportunities for growth within our grasp.

The arts community commends Council for the support it has shown, and the measurable impact on the arts and downtown revitalization that have resulted. It is unfortunate that we must rally for our city’s share of funding for a project that will boost our economy when little is said about spending far, far more on recreation facilities or police and fire service infrastructure. But the arts community is resilient and committed. More than that, we remain hopeful that Council will stay the course and see this vital community project through.

A Call to Action – Please Read, Act and Forward

Dear Friends

Barrie’s Downtown Community Theatre needs your help, and it needs it now. If we do not step forward and speak up, the revitalization of our Downtown Community Theatre could be delayed, or cancelled altogether. Please take five minutes right now to write to your city Councillor, or Council as a whole, to make sure our Theatre gets funded this year. Contact information and a sample letter to aid you can be found here.

At the direction of Council last year, the city applied for funding to renovate our Theatre through the federal Cultural Spaces program. The application process was complex, staff worked diligently to bring it together, and our MP Patrick Brown worked hard to see it through. Barrie was very fortunate to receive an offer of $2.5 million to renovate our Theatre! But Barrie has not yet accepted the funding. It cannot accept it unless and until Council commits our share in the Capital Budget.

On Monday, the Capital Budget process began, and it does NOT currently include funding for our Theatre. Council needs to continue to demonstrate its support of arts and culture by putting this project into the Budget. We need you to ask them to do just that.

Some things to consider:
- Council has made culture a priority, though our Cultural Plan, the establishment of the Department of Culture, adopting culture as an economic driver and as part of downtown revitalization
- Council has wisely invested close to $1.5 million in this project already, and has reaped the benefits of an increasingly vibrant downtown
- The renovations will further boost downtown revitalization and further increase the downtown tax base
- The $2.5 million in funding will vanish if the work is not completed in the next eighteen months – that means this budget
- Arts funding is not like a bank loan – just because we qualified for this grant does not mean funding will be available later; indeed, turning down a grant will stain every future application
- If we can’t find $2.5 million this year, will we really find $5 million next? Or will the renovation die?
- Our theatre is our only community performance space
- Our community has demonstrated commitment through use, attendance, sweat equity, donations and fundraising
- Professional performance requires professional infrastructure
- Our community has waited long enough: we need this now

If we pass on this funding, we will miss a vital opportunity, hinder the arts in our city, and make it more difficult for the artists of tomorrow. Please write to City Council, write letters to the editor, talk to your friends, and help us spread the word.

Check back here for updates.

Thank you for supporting arts and culture in our city.