Province and City Plan New Vancouver Cultural Precinct
April 5, 2006
VANCOUVER – The BC Liberal Government and the City of Vancouver are launching a co-operative planning process to create a cultural precinct in downtown Vancouver, Premier Gordon Campbell and Mayor Sam Sullivan announced today.
“Vancouver is home to Canada’s most vibrant artistic and cultural community – it helps define our community and it’s critical to our economy. It is Vancouver’s face to the world in 2010,” said Campbell. “Together with the City, we want to strengthen cultural institutions at the heart of a provincewide network to showcase B.C.’s rich cultural diversity.”
The Province is providing a $5 million contribution from the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and the Arts for the planning and initial development of the cultural precinct, which will be matched by $5 million from the City’s capital funds. The planning process will be led by the City in consultation with the Province.
“Cultural facilities are key to the economic, social and cultural health of all great cities,” said Sullivan. “Vancouver needs to take the next step in the support and development of its cultural institutions, and establishing a precinct is an effective way to create synergies and energy amongst our great cultural offerings. We are grateful to the Province for its support for this important process and initiative.”
“A new cultural precinct will help us build stronger cultural bridges between our past and our future,” said Tourism, Sport and the Arts Minister Olga Ilich. “By honouring the rich contributions of our Aboriginal and multicultural communities, we not only acknowledge the vital role they have played in our history and development, we also create space for new cultural tourism attractions where visitors and residents alike can learn about and celebrate our diversity.”
“This partnership between the City and the Province will open up many exciting opportunities for artists,” said Councillor Elizabeth Ball. “A new cultural precinct will not only enhance Vancouver’s urban environment but will also provide new venues for the diverse expressions of our people and place.
The planning process will involve a review and prioritizing of the many cultural initiatives currently being proposed. This includes a new provincial Asia-Pacific Museum of Trade and Culture and a new National Gallery of Aboriginal Art, both of which the Province committed to initiate in February’s throne speech. It also includes the City’s cultural objectives such as the renovation of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Complex and the relocation of the Vancouver Art Gallery, subject to capital and operating funding requirements being met. The review will yield a short-term and long-term plan and will begin initial development work on a proposed major cultural precinct in downtown Vancouver.
The locations to be part of the precinct review are the City-owned lands bounded by Georgia, Hamilton, Dunsmuir and Beatty Streets (the last prime development side in downtown Vancouver), as well as the Provincially-owned land at Robson Square.
