The founder of the Coquitlam Youth Orchestra was before the city's council-in-committee this afternoon (Monday) to pitch his plan for a community music school and concert hall.
Reg Quiring spoke to the committee about his proposal to create a facility that would focus on education and performance for musicians of all ages and levels.
Quiring, who meets with his three youth groups on Fridays in the Evergreen Cultural Centre rehearsal hall, said he's hearing from other music organizations in the Tri-Cities about the lack of space available and the need to build a central music school.
"If we had more space, we could do more things," Quiring told the committee.
But while councillors were receptive to the idea — and congratulated Quiring for his "passion" — Coquitlam's general manager of parks, recreation and culture said the future of arts and culture venues is up in the air. For example, Place des Arts is outgrowing its building in Maillardville and the Innovation Centre (which is attached to the Evergreen Cultural Centre) is underused, Raul Allueva said.
He pointed to partnerships, as outlined in Coquitlam's new P3 policy, to highlight opportunities for arts organizations and to push the request forward.
Coun. Mae Reid said when the Evergreen was first designed, the larger-scale version — including a playhouse — came with a price tag of $70 million. But Coun. Terry O'Neill cited the Chilliwack example, which was constructed for around $20 million.
Coun. Craig Hodge suggested Quiring explore a partnership with School District 43 to look at possibly linking a music school to a Burke Mountain school.
"There's a lot of people who want to do exactly what you're doing," Reid told Quiring.
