Community vs Community Centre
I love where I live, but sometimes my neighbours are irritating, self-indulgent and convinced the world owes them a living. This is the tale of three cmmunity centres, and a business that has become a cultural and eonomic driver for our part of the city. Those of my friends who live in east end of Ottawa may have heard one version of the story. Here the other side.
I live in one of three closely connected communities. Each has a small community centre. One is little more than a single room attached to a small library (Rockcliffe Park). It has an evening speakers program, gardening club, yoga and ikebana casses, among other things. One has a room, oversized vestibule and ktchen (Lindenlea). It has morning aerobics, play groups for pre-schoolers, an after school program, runs a soccer league, and hosts summer camps. One has a building that appears to have a couple of rooms (New Edinburgh). I have been told that it was built primarily to boost the argument against extending the planned Vanier Parkway extension through their neighbourhood. Unlike the other community centres, not much seems to happen there.
The New Edinburgh community also owns a 16.5% stake in The School of Dance, although it occupies one third of the floor space. They share a property that was formerly the Crichton Street Public School, an early 20th C school that had been closed. The community fought to keep it open but couldn't afford to buy the property. The School of Dance purchased the space and agreed to give the New Edinburgh community space in the top floor of the building (known as CCCC), in cooperation with the City of Ottawa, which provided a grant.
Not long after, things started to fall apart. The CCCC didn't pay its share of utility bills, and allowed its visitors to wander through The School of Dance (TSOD) on their way to the CCCC. Not that there were huge numbers of people - the CCCC space doesn't get much use except around the time of the annual Luminato festival - but TSOD has hundreds of children in its classes every day, and is responsible for their safety.
In 2008, TSOD had finally had enough and started procedings to evict CCCC for non-payment, return the City's grant, disolve the partnership and purchase the whole building at market price. TSOD had put in a lot of money for sprung dance floors in six studios, and created studio space for three resident artists who collaborate in multimedia dance works and exhibit their works in the School. Last year, they won their case. The CCCC has until the end of June to exercise its right of first refusal and is now trying to raise funds to "Keep Crichton School Public", noting that they would have a wonderful space with dance and artist studios for community activities. If they are unable to meet the asking price, the sale must close by August 31.
Sadly, the CCCC has launched a vicious campaign against TSOD, painting it as a bunch of money-grubbing outsiders. They forget that TSOD runs leisure programs for hundreds of adults and children from throughout the community. It attracts professional students from across the city; in the case of the full-time modern dance program, they come from across the country. Those students (and their parents) live and shop in the community - it is rare to go to our local commercial district and not see one or more parents at the grocery store or grabbing a coffee or lunch. They have been a significant economic boost.
Aside from the economic value, TSOD brings culture and physical fitness to a broad community. Among its programs are DanceAbility for those with physical handicaps, a dance program for seniors at the Elizabeth Bruyere Hospital and Continuing Care Centre, Dance on Tour which exposes schools across eastern Ontario to dance, its collaboration with the National Arts Centre's musical education program, and special projects with Carleton University's Faculty of Music (composition students), the Rag and Bone Puppet Theatre, etc. It makes space available for local teachers of Tai Chi, African dance, flamenco and hip hop. It runs sold-out summer and March Break camps based around dance. It can't meet all the demand and would welcome the opportunity to convert the third floor into more studios.
Of course there are personalities involved on both sides. There are probably lots of things that would have been better unsaid. But it is clear to me that the director of TSOD (a former ballerina) is not the only diva in this drama. And there is much more to a community than a community centre building.
I live in one of three closely connected communities. Each has a small community centre. One is little more than a single room attached to a small library (Rockcliffe Park). It has an evening speakers program, gardening club, yoga and ikebana casses, among other things. One has a room, oversized vestibule and ktchen (Lindenlea). It has morning aerobics, play groups for pre-schoolers, an after school program, runs a soccer league, and hosts summer camps. One has a building that appears to have a couple of rooms (New Edinburgh). I have been told that it was built primarily to boost the argument against extending the planned Vanier Parkway extension through their neighbourhood. Unlike the other community centres, not much seems to happen there.
The New Edinburgh community also owns a 16.5% stake in The School of Dance, although it occupies one third of the floor space. They share a property that was formerly the Crichton Street Public School, an early 20th C school that had been closed. The community fought to keep it open but couldn't afford to buy the property. The School of Dance purchased the space and agreed to give the New Edinburgh community space in the top floor of the building (known as CCCC), in cooperation with the City of Ottawa, which provided a grant.
Not long after, things started to fall apart. The CCCC didn't pay its share of utility bills, and allowed its visitors to wander through The School of Dance (TSOD) on their way to the CCCC. Not that there were huge numbers of people - the CCCC space doesn't get much use except around the time of the annual Luminato festival - but TSOD has hundreds of children in its classes every day, and is responsible for their safety.
In 2008, TSOD had finally had enough and started procedings to evict CCCC for non-payment, return the City's grant, disolve the partnership and purchase the whole building at market price. TSOD had put in a lot of money for sprung dance floors in six studios, and created studio space for three resident artists who collaborate in multimedia dance works and exhibit their works in the School. Last year, they won their case. The CCCC has until the end of June to exercise its right of first refusal and is now trying to raise funds to "Keep Crichton School Public", noting that they would have a wonderful space with dance and artist studios for community activities. If they are unable to meet the asking price, the sale must close by August 31.
Sadly, the CCCC has launched a vicious campaign against TSOD, painting it as a bunch of money-grubbing outsiders. They forget that TSOD runs leisure programs for hundreds of adults and children from throughout the community. It attracts professional students from across the city; in the case of the full-time modern dance program, they come from across the country. Those students (and their parents) live and shop in the community - it is rare to go to our local commercial district and not see one or more parents at the grocery store or grabbing a coffee or lunch. They have been a significant economic boost.
Aside from the economic value, TSOD brings culture and physical fitness to a broad community. Among its programs are DanceAbility for those with physical handicaps, a dance program for seniors at the Elizabeth Bruyere Hospital and Continuing Care Centre, Dance on Tour which exposes schools across eastern Ontario to dance, its collaboration with the National Arts Centre's musical education program, and special projects with Carleton University's Faculty of Music (composition students), the Rag and Bone Puppet Theatre, etc. It makes space available for local teachers of Tai Chi, African dance, flamenco and hip hop. It runs sold-out summer and March Break camps based around dance. It can't meet all the demand and would welcome the opportunity to convert the third floor into more studios.
Of course there are personalities involved on both sides. There are probably lots of things that would have been better unsaid. But it is clear to me that the director of TSOD (a former ballerina) is not the only diva in this drama. And there is much more to a community than a community centre building.