Elora Centre for the Arts facing 'considerable' repair, maintenance costs

ELORA ‒ The Elora Centre for the Arts is concerned the cost of building repairs will come at the expense of programming it provides in the community.

Delegating in Centre Wellington council on Monday, the Elora Centre for the Arts (ECTFA) is requesting consistent and ongoing financial support from the township for the next five years to assist with the stewardship of their building, a heritage schoolhouse from 1856. 

According to the group's delegation form, while they've received varying levels of support through different sources of township funding since 2002, the ECFTA currently has no sources of operational funding from any public sources and invests significant resources in maintaining the heritage schoolhouse. 

"Much like sports and recreation, arts and culture are essential components of healthy growth in our community," said the group in their letter. "Support for our building will help alleviate financial pressures (and) enhance our ability to focus resources on being responsive to the community." 

Citing the township's 2019 Building Condition Assessment Report, the ECFTA anticipates "very considerable repair and maintenance costs" in the next five years. 

"Through significant fundraising efforts, we remain committed to funding these repairs," said the group. "However, they come at a significant burden to ECFTA’s overall programs and operations." 

They'd also like to explore more ways to deepen their partnership with the township, similar to the Mayor's Town Hall event last month, and further embed arts and culture in more facilities across Elora. 

"(Our) economic impact has already grown significantly in the past six years," said the group. "With financial support from the township to help maintain the building, this will enhance the ECFTA's sustainability and allow us to continue growing this economic impact for the local arts economy." 

More information is available here. 

Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.