“It was a long way to come for so little.” That comment could be heard from the disappointed crowd gathered at Huntsville council on Monday, hoping to see some security and a lease extension for The Culture Station.
What they got was a tongue-lashing from council for pushing the issue forward, despite a decision at the July meeting of council to revisit the issue this December.
“I’m surprised you came back to us so soon. I was really disappointed. I thought that the whole point was to give everyone until December to come up with this grand business plan that we could partnership with, but instead we get this ‘still want it for a buck or else’ and that bothers me,” said councillor Bob Stone. At the same time, he said there is great economic opportunity at the Culture Station but said he’d like to see a business plan.
Councillor Nancy Alcock said that while she too supports the initiative at the CN Rail Station, she has felt a general mistrust towards council on the issue.
“You bully people that support you, ” she told some of those present. Alcock said she is hoping the municipality will form a partnership with the Culture Station, but it needs to be done right.
At issue is council’s lack of funds to subsidize the rental, repairs required for the site, and the fact that there is another tenant paying full rent on the premises. But Culture Station members and supporters argue that the building is designated as a heritage site, it needs to be maintained, and they are willing to do take on the lion’s share along with offering cultural programming.
In their most recent letter presenting their arguments to council, they also discuss their not-for-profit nature and their programming, already planned well into 2016.
There was general support for the initiative around the council table, but still councillors were not willing to jump in with both feet without a proper plan.
“This is complex, we want to make it work but I’m finding out very quickly that it’s not solvable overnight,” said Mayor Scott Aitchison. “It’s not just your issues. This corporation is dealing with a breadth of issues across all kinds of physical assets and all kinds of transportation assets and the realities of our fiscal situation, which isn’t quite as rosy as we thought it was.”
In the end, council voted to extend the lease and revisit voting on the issue in June 2016.
On behalf of the Station Masters we would like to sincerely thank everyone who attended the Council Meeting last night to support this unique and exciting initiative. The Culture Station celebrates a built heritage gem in this Town – The Train Station – and has the potential to significantly impact the development of arts, culture, and heritage at both a grass roots level and as an economic driver by supporting cultural tourism.
However, it takes an immense amount of planning, effort, and volunteer hours to incubate this kind of project and inevitably there will be challenges as we forge new partnerships. After last night’s meeting we are very optimistic that the municipality is in support of the Culture Station and is committed to working with us to come to a positive agreement.
Our groups are dedicated to acting as the stewards of the Train Station and to continue developing the Culture Station. But we couldn’t do it, and we wouldn’t do it, without the strong outpouring of support that we experienced over the past few months from our stakeholders, the membership of our respective groups, and from the arts community in general. We value your engagement and momentum and we’re very excited to continue working toward our common goals to develop a dynamic cultural hub for everyone to enjoy.
The Station Masters