The Kimberley Arts Council (KAC) held a Ground Breaking Ceremony on Thursday, March 29, 2018, to celebrate the start of construction on a platform wheelchair lift at Centre 64.
Currently, the Centre 64 Performing Arts Centre is not accessible to those with mobility issues as it is located on the second story of the building.
The KAC has raised $200,000 dollars through fundraising efforts, spearheaded by Carol Fergus, who sits on the Board of Directors. She, and a dedicated team have spent countless hours making accessibility at Centre 64 a reality.
Former President and Arts Council member Mike Redfern says that this is the first major renovation since the 90’s.
“Since the expansion to include our gallery back in the early 90’s, this, I think, is the next major renovation [and] reconstruction that is going to expand the ability of the arts centre and provide the services that you all want,” said Redfern.
Mayor Don McCormick was also at the ceremony to congratulate Fergus and her team on their achievement.
“A couple of years ago the City commissioned an engineering study on this building to try and determine whether or not it was worthy of putting money into,” said McCormick. “The report came back very positive, the building has very solid bones. The City invested around $300,000 into the building at the time to put in a sprinkler system…and the air conditioning system. However, one of the things that has been long short on this building has been accessibility. Getting accessibility into this building has been a dream for a very long time and for the past year Carol and her team have been fundraising to make this a reality. Today, we are seeing the fruition of that. On behalf of the City of Kimberley I want to congratulate Carol and the rest of the team on an absolutely outstanding effort, and best wishes for a great project.”
Dennis Bathory, who is a semi-retired Architect, is volunteering his skills to help with the design and construction of the lift. He says the project itself, architecturally, is “very modest”.
The lift will be located beside the emergency exit doors (which face the parking lot). It uses an overhead hydraulic system and takes 30 seconds to get patrons from the first to second floor with the push of a button. The lift will lead into a hallway that goes directly into the theatre.
“We are so proud of the fact that we are reconnecting with the community, and have been so supported by the community with an amazing amount of fundraising,” said Bathory. “We had a target of $25,000 (locally), which was ambitious, yet we’ve topped it at just over $30,000.”
President of the Board of Directors for KAC Lennan Delaney says that this wouldn’t be possible without the efforts of the community.
“Things like this don’t necessarily happen unless there’s a community that gets involved…” said Delaney. “As we know, Centre 64 has been a cornerstone within the arts in our community for a long, long time. It has also been a place of culture, both our own and that of others. When you think about the importance of inclusiveness within a community, it’s something that should be accessed by all.
“This is a game changer. When we think about mobility concerns of those individuals who are dealing with them now, or potentially [people] who will be addressing those concerns in the future, this really does allow for all to access many of the wonderful things that take place at Centre 64.”
Redfern recognized the many fundraising contributors including Heritage Canada, BC Gaming, Have Camera Will Travel, the City of Kimberley and the Give Us A Lift Campaign. He also recognized the building partners which include Cover Architectural Collaborative Ltd., New Dawn Construction Ltd., and Roberts Elevators and lifts.
Construction will begin shortly, and Centre 64 will be fully accessible by September or October of this year.
