Clutch released on Cultch reno
A minor piece of city-council bureaucracy has cleared the way for the Vancouver East Cultural Centre's renovation project, which has been waiting in the wings for five years.

On June 14, Vancouver city council approved the reallocation of $750,000 from Phase 2 of the project to Phase 1, and the theatre was finally able to put out a call to tender for the initial part of the three-phase project. The reallocation of the funds was needed because escalating construction costs have bumped the project's price tag up from $12 million to $20 million–$6 million each for phases 1 and 2, and an additional $8 million for Phase 3.

Heather Redfern, the Cultch's executive director, told the Straight that financing for Phase 1 has been in place for a few months. "The holdup has been finalizing the negotiations," she explained. "The passing of that report in council was seminal."

Redfern says she expects to break ground in August, and Phase 1 to be completed by next spring. She is campaigning for provincial funds for Phase 2, which she hopes to have in place within the next six months.

"We still don't have any provincial commitment [for any phase of the project], so we are really looking to the province to step in for this second phase," she said. And Phase 3? "I'm not even thinking about it now."

The first phase includes the construction of a three-storey building on what is currently the parking lot at the corner of Venables and Victoria streets. It will house a small studio theatre, washrooms, and administrative offices. The second phase will entail the renovation of the main theatre to improve legroom and acoustics, and the final phase will see the construction of a studio theatre connected to the west side of the existing structure.

> Jessica Werb

Cultural Olympiad deadline "short"
VANOC's Cultural Olympiad director, Robert Kerr, has acknowledged that the five-week period in which to apply for a slot in the 2008 Cultural Olympiad Celebration is brief. Artists and cultural workers have complained that the June 12 call for proposals came late and that the July 16 deadline leaves little time to pull new programs together.

"It is a little short, timewise," Kerr told the Straight , but he maintained that the tight deadline will not hamper cultural groups wanting to take part in the festivities, which will run February 1 to March 21, 2008. "The community has really been anticipating this for quite some time," he said. "It's not as if this kind of came out of the blue."

Barbara Clausen, producer of the Vancouver contemporary-dance organization New Works, told the Straight most performing-arts groups have already planned their 2008 season.

"The season's pretty well lined up," she said. "If you're talking about inventing anything brand-new, it's not enough time." Instead, she said, she will be looking at ways in which her existing programs could be worked into the Cultural Olympiad.

Moshe Denburg, program director of the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, echoed Clausen's sentiments. "It would have been a lot nicer if we would have known about this even in the fall of last year," he said. "They were supposed to start the Cultural Olympiad in 2007. It was put off....The lateness of it is unfortunate, especially for growing, medium-sized organizations like ours."

Kerr said calls to apply for the 2009 and 2010 festivities will be made this fall, giving organizations more time to develop proposals.

> Jessica Werb

Montreal poaches Surette
Victoria's Belfry Theatre will begin seeking a new artistic director next month, following Roy Surette's decision to take on the role of artistic and executive director of the Centaur Theatre, Montreal's premier English-language company. Before joining the Belfry, Surette spent 12 years as artistic director of Touchstone Theatre in Vancouver (from 1985 to 1997), where he raised the annual budget from $30,000 to $300,000. He will take up his new Montreal post in November.

> Jessica Werb

Feds boost MOA
UBC's Museum of Anthropology was handed a grant of $2.1 million by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage in a presentation by Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women Bev Oda on June 25. The funds are earmarked for the museum's renewal project, a $52-million undertaking that aims to increase the size of the facility by 50 percent by 2009. The funding comes out of the Department of Canadian Heritage's Cultural Spaces Canada program.

> Jessica Werb