Media Centre - News Release
New east end citizens’ coalition launches campaign for
arts facility
(Posted October 23, 2002) Orléans,
Ontario – The Equality East Citizens’ Coalition today launched a
campaign to press members of City Council to commit a minimum of
$8-million to establish a permanent, multifunctional community arts and
cultural facility in Ottawa’s East District. The facility, a project
first proposed to the City of Gloucester in 1988, has been identified as
one of the Top 5 citywide recreational and cultural priorities in the
City of Ottawa’s Facility Needs Study Phase II.
Equality East is inviting community-based groups and associations to
endorse a Declaration of Support,
and a petition has been launched for individuals
wishing to express their support for this overdue facility. In addition,
citizens favourable to the project are urged to
e-mail and call their city councillor. The petition and contact
information for members of city council are available on the Equality
East Web site at http://equalityeast.tripod.com.
“The City has identified an arts facility in the east end as one of the
Top 5 citywide recreational and cultural priorities. It’s time for City
Council to put its money where its mouth is, instead of paying
lip-service to the investment priorities of our community,” says
Equality East Chair J.-F. Claude. “Our residents need and deserve to
have a place where they can develop and nurture their creative talents
and skills, be it in dance studios or art classes, in multimedia labs or
on a performance stage,” adds Mr. Claude.
Aside from the educational and recreational benefits, Mr. Claude also
points out that a multifunctional arts and cultural facility could
become the cornerstone of a new economic development strategy for the
east end. The creation of a dynamic, bilingual creative industries
cluster in the east may well fit in with the City of Ottawa’s Smart
Growth strategy, he argues.
The Equality East Citizens Coalition promotes public and private
investment in the renewal and expansion of the East District community’s
cultural, economic and social infrastructure. By building a broad-based
coalition of existing community-based organizations and concerned
citizens, Equality East aims to provide Ottawa’s East District with a
stronger, more effective voice in civic affairs.
Equality East is headed by a steering committee made up of
representatives from arts and cultural organizations, the business
sector and community associations. Although primarily an umbrella
organization for existing community-based organizations, membership in
Equality East is open to all individuals concerned with shaping the
future of the East District community and affirming its place in the
amalgamated City of Ottawa. - 30 -
Source: J.-F. Claude, Chair,
Equality East -- (613) 837-7950
BACKGROUNDER
Text
of the Declaration of Support
We, the undersigned, are united in our support for the establishment of
a permanent, multi-functional community arts and cultural facility in
Ottawa’s East District, with equal access for all Ottawa residents.
We want Ottawa City Council to fulfill its commitment to establish such
a facility in the East District, a facility identified as one of the Top
5 city-wide recreational and cultural priorities in the City’s Facility
Needs Study Phase II.
With the above in mind, we want the Mayor of Ottawa and members of City
Council to:
-
commit unequivocally to establishing a
permanent, multi-functional community arts and cultural facility in
Ottawa’s East District;
-
restore, within the current 2003
municipal budget process, the $8-million originally allocated to this
facility in the draft 2002-2007 City of Ottawa 5-year capital
forecast;
-
ensure this facility will adequately meet
the East District’s current and projected facility requirements; and,
-
set a firm timeline to fulfill their
commitment to establishing this overdue facility.
Text of the
Petition
TO Ottawa City Council:
WHEREAS the establishment of a community arts and cultural
facility in Ottawa’s East District was identified as one of the Top 5
city-wide recreational and cultural priorities in the City of Ottawa’s
Facility Needs Study Phase II;
WHEREAS $8-million was originally allocated to this facility in
the draft 2002-2007 City of Ottawa 5-year capital forecast;
AND WHEREAS no such community arts and cultural facility exists
east of the Rideau River,
WE the undersigned petition Ottawa City Council as follows:
-
To commit unequivocally to establishing a
permanent, multi-functional community arts and cultural facility in
Ottawa’s East District, with equal access for all Ottawa residents;
-
To restore, within the current 2003
municipal budget process, no less than $8-million as originally
allocated to this facility in the draft 2002-2007 City of Ottawa
5-year capital forecast;
-
To ensure this facility will adequately
meet the East District’s current and projected facility requirements;
and,
-
To set a firm timeline to fulfill their
commitment to establishing this overdue facility.
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