HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO-11-022 - Victoria Park BoathouseREPORT TO:Mayor Zehr and Members of City Council
DATE OF MEETING:
SUBMITTED BY: Carla Ladd, CAO
PREPARED BY:
Carla Ladd, CAO; Rod Regier, Executive Director of
Economic Development
WARD(S) INVOLVED:
Ward 9
DATE OF REPORT:
September 29, 2011
REPORT NO.:
CAO-11-022
SUBJECT:
Victoria Park Boathouse
RECOMMENDATION:
That City Council support the continued use of the Boathouse as a cultural venue for
independent music and undertake the following process for the continued use of the Boathouse;
That an operational analysis be conducted in consultation with the current operation to
determine what improvements need to be undertaken in order to ensure efficient and profitable
operation as a live music venue; and
That staff be directed to conduct a structural analysis of the existing building based on the
operational improvements which have been identified; and
That staff present to City Council proposed renovations and associated costs for consideration;
and
That provided the current operator maintains timely licence payments until the temporary
closure of the Boathouse, staff be directed to negotiate mutually satisfactory lease
arrangements with the current operator including length of lease, operating terms and monthly
lease rate; and
In the event satisfactory terms cannot be reached, that staff develop an open process to invite
expressions of interests for an operator for a live music venue at the Boathouse for Council’s
consideration and approval; and
That the Boathouse as an incubator for indie music be referred to and considered as part of the
Economic Development Strategic Plan currently under development.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
City of Kitchener has long been a supporter of the arts, evident through its long term and
significant investment in the arts. The Boathouse has become a ‘cultural icon’ through its
current operation as a live music venue supporting independent artists, particularly Blues artists.
It has gained notoriety locally and nationally and is well known throughout the international
blues scene. The City understands that a vibrant cultural scene is important to attracting talent
and therefore an important priority in the City’s Economic Development Strategy. In recognition
of this, the continuation of the Boathouse for live music is seen as an important building block in
the cultural base of the City and although facing a temporary closure due to the construction
soon to commence on Victoria Park Lake, there is an opportunity to improve the venue and its
role as a catalyst in the local music industry.
REPORT:
The Victoria Park Master Planwas undertaken to rebuild the prominence of Victoria Park as the
City’s premiere urban park. The master planning process was comprehensive and included all
aspects of the park including entrance features, renovations to the pavilion, improvements to the
lake, bridges and paths as well the facilities in the park including the boathouse. Some work
has been completed, for example the Joseph Street entrance, while other work has not started
and does not yet have funding set aside in the city’s budget. The next major project which will
commence in the very near future entails improvements to Victoria Park Lake and involves
draining a portion of the lake in order to remove sediment which has built up on the bottom as
well as shoreline work. This work is significant and will directly impact the operations of the
boathouse and as such, operations will have to cease from January 1 – May 31, 2012 during
the construction period. The Operator of the Boathouse had been advised of the intended lake
construction well in advance of project commencement, and was formally notified of the
requirement to cease operations by September 30, 2011 however he was also given the option
of extending operations to December 31, 2011 provided he entered into a release agreement
with the City acknowledging that there would be a significant impact to the boathouse and the
internal operations. The operator did enter into an agreement with the City, however made the
decision to cease operations by October 31, 2011.
Public Input
As a result of informing patrons of the Boathouse of the closure, a large number of them (100
plus) attended the Victoria Park Lake public information center (PIC) on Tuesday, September
27, 2011 to express their concerns about the closure of this venue and express their support for
the continued operation of the boathouse as a live music venue under the management of the
current operator. Supporters of the Boathouse spoke passionately about the value of the venue
to the blues music scene in the City and beyond. They referred to the Boathouse as a ‘cultural
icon’ which has national and international profile and therefore attracts prominent musicians in
addition to local musicians. It was described as a place where young musicians could cut their
teeth and where children can perform with their families. In this vein, many commented that the
Boathouse offers an inclusive experience, open to all ages and various economic backgrounds
including families. They were concerned that if the Boathouse closed, the City and the
community would lose the cultural equity that has been built up. Some suggested that because
of this cultural value, the city should consider offering a cultural subsidy to support the ongoing
operations.
A representative of the Victoria Park Neighbourhood Association spoke in favour of the
Boathouse on the basis that it added safety to the park and the neighbourhood because it puts
people and therefore eyes on the park at night. Many of the meeting participants shared this
view.
In a survey that was provided to attendees at the meeting, 58 surveys were completed and the
overwhelming majority said the location of the Boathouse love music venue factored into their
decision to go there. The majority also said that they would not be interested in the current live
music experience if it was offered in another downtown Kitchener venue. And finally almost
100% of the respondents felt the best use of the building is the current use. In addition, over
250 surveys were completed on-line with the results being the same.
Economic Development Considerations
The City of Kitchener has adopted an approach to economic development which focuses on
building globally competitive, knowledge intensive and creative business clusters and attracting
and retaining the talent needed to sustain these clusters. The key tool in this talent strategy is
the building of a dynamic downtown with a vibrant cultural scene. This strategy has supported
the development of the Communitech Hub, City Centre Condominiums, the reconstruction of
King Street as a pedestrian environment, and events program with over 80 events in the
downtown including the Kitchener Blues Festival, and Downtown Live which supported over 100
acts on King Street in the past 6 months. Both the current Economic Development Strategy and
the one under development identify the growth of a dynamic arts industry as critical to creating
the type of community that can attract talent and sustain the creative energy of our economy. In
fact, the development of a local music industry can be one of the most potent stimulants to a
creative economy.
The approach that the City has taken to supporting emerging industries is widely known in the
economic development literature as cluster development. In the digital media industry, cluster
building started with the facilitation of the Art and Technology Working Group in 2004 and 2005.
This led to the conceptualization of the Digital Media Convergence Centre, an idea which, with
City of Kitchener support, Communitech turned into The Hub – one of Canada’s most energetic
tech start-up environments. Today the Hub is incubating numerous small companies that are
moving out into the Downtown and across the Waterloo Region.
It has become clear that the Boathouse has become, under the management of Kevin Doyle, an
incubator of the local music industry. It is a place where young musicians gain valuable
performance experience and are encouraged to experiment. This venue has become the centre
of a music community that spawned and helped grow the Kitchener Blues Festival into one of
Canada’s premier music events. The brand of the Boathouse is known across Canada and
beyond as one of the most important small venues for emerging and well established artists. As
a result, modest as it is, it has become a strategic contributor to Kitchener’s emerging identity as
a creative city.
The City has already benefited from this venue as a catalyst. But the potential of the Boathouse
is more significant. If design and operating deficiencies of the Boat House are addressed, it’s
potential as a catalyst and resource to the community increases. Explicitly identifying this role
for the Boathouse in the City’s next economic development strategy, will allow continued
experimentation and innovation in local music and support the growing cultural and creative
energy of the City.
Going Forward
The City of Kitchener has long been a supporter of the arts and in the case of the Boathouse, it
has been clearly demonstrated that it plays a significant role in the cultural experience in the
City. In order to ensure a successful future for the Boathouse as a live music venue,
improvements will likely need to be made to the current building which has been expressed on
numerous occasions by the current owner. In this regard, the City needs to ensure that there is
a long term commitment to this use. Therefore the City will seek an operator who is prepared to
enter into a long term lease with the City which contains mutually satisfactory conditions – we
believe that it is fair to provide the current operator with this opportunity before it is opened to a
public process, on the basis that the current operator built the business and has achieved much
success and support from the music community as well as the community as a whole. Pending
direction from Council, staff will endeavour to undertake the works outlined in the
recommendation through the temporary closure period in an effort to keep the closure to a
minimum.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
Under the ‘Quality of Life’ community Priority, arts and culture is cited as a critical factor to the
health of the community. In addition, the Economic Development Strategic Plan acknowledges
vibrant arts and culture is key to talent attraction.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Until such time as the operational and structural analyses are completed, the costs of any
potential renovations to the Boathouse are unknown. Staff will review potential funding sources
should renovations be recommended, for consideration by City Council at a future date.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
Public input was received at the Victoria Park Lake Public Information Center on September 27,
2011 and notice was provided on September 30 to all those who attended that meeting that this
report was available on the City’s website and the matter would be discussed by Council at their
meeting of October 3, 2011. Further public engagement will be determined once direction is
given by Council as to the process going forward.
CONCLUSION:
Given the clear support by the community for the Boathouse and the compelling case they
made about the important role it plays in the cultural experience of the city and to the music
industry in particular, it is being recommended that the boathouse continue to be used for a live
music venue subject to the process and conditions set out in the recommendation.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Carla Ladd, CAO