GM Cornwall expects the arts/culture center to open in the fall of 2025

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Cornwall Council has been told the arts and culture center being built in the town center is likely to open within 18 months.

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“We expect an opening in the fall of 2025,” general manager of planning, development and recreation, JAmy Fawthrop he said during the presentation of the arts and culture center update at city hall on Tuesday, and provided a wealth of information, including that, with the exception of the front facade and two side walls from the former Bank of Montreal, everything behind it, at east, have been destroyed as the next phases of the project get underway.

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Excavation for the front basement is underway and piled foundation construction has begun.

Fawthrop said the building envelope will be completed by November. The anticipated timeline has the interior ready by spring, and installation of theater systems next summer (2025) and fall.

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Fawthrop answered questions from councillors, and Sarah Good asked if all toilets in the facility would be unisex? The city’s general manager said yes, there will be a gender-neutral bathroom, and each of the five stalls will have its own sink and mirror, and there will be a barrier-free toilet.

“(Gender neutral is) a space saver, we’re so pressed for space (in the building),” Fawthrop said.

cone Elaine MacDonald brought up the subject of parking and access and Fawthrop said there would be an accessible entrance off Pitt Street – parking is another matter.

“There will be very little or no on-site parking in order to get as much programming as possible on-site,” he said, adding that customers will be based in city car parks and spaces, and of course public transport is available to get to to the building.

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There is a number of kerbside parking spaces to the front of the building and one of the largest municipal car parks in Cornwall is accessible from the rear of the site. One block away, there is more curbside parking at Pitt and Second Streets and other municipal parking lots on Third Street, just west of Pitt Street and just north of the Cornwall Public Library.

Fawthrop said the Bank of Montreal has a 10-year naming rights agreement for the arts and culture center and the administration will have a recruitment process to have an arts and culture director for the city, preferably with six to 12 months before the center opens.

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cone Dean Hollingsworth raised questions about the cost of the project, and Fawthrop said that when the center opens, the total cost is expected to still be the $10.4 million estimated a few years ago.

said Fawthrop Laurin & Company, which holds the nearly $10.4 million contract to redevelop 159 Pitt St. from a former bank branch in the city’s arts and culture center, is committed to that price, but change orders and extra work could occur.

Fawthrop said about $2 million has been spent on reconstruction to date.

Cornwall Council was informed by the city administration a few weeks ago, construction work postponed from late 2023 has resumed and a more formal update will be provided at a future meeting.

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Fawthrop used drone footage and slides in his presentation, reminding council that the project concept was supported by the 2011 Culturescape study, and a feasibility study completed in 2016 recommended an expansion of the civic complex.

But, the opportunity to build BMO arose. In 2018 the bank closed, a “fit test” was conducted at 159 Pitt St., and the city purchased the building. Plans for the center show a variety of rentable spaces, including a multipurpose black box theater, foyer/lobby area and two studio classrooms.

The community has raised nearly $1.4 million to build the arts and culture center through the Be The Link fundraising campaign.

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