What was once a storage space is now a sunny soundproofed music room for Port Moody Arts Centre students to study.
Last week, the St. John's Street facility unveiled its new "Studio 6" thanks to a $4,000 donation from the Port Moody Foundation, a philanthropic organization that hands out thousands of dollars a year to community groups.
Jane Matthews, executive director of the arts centre society, said sealing off the small upstairs area to noise will allow staff to program more lessons and activities in one of the oldest buildings in the city that once served as the municipal hall.
Before the room was soundproofed, "there was a lot of echoing and it was hard to schedule classes close to where the music was happening," Matthews said, adding, "We are hoping the other two music studios will get the same treatment in the future."
Art and music classes are key to the centre's growth, she said.
Currently, it employs three piano teachers, a flute/clarinet instructor, a vocal coach and two guitar teachers. And there is a push to hire more, with the number of music students swelling from 56 to more than 80 over the past three years.
Matthews said the society has been working on containing the noise level for at least four years; the foundation funding is acknowledged with a plaque by the door to "Studio 6," which is located off the main piano section, called Studio 2.
Foundation president Robert Simons, who was at the unveiling last Thursday with past president David Spence with other foundation board members, said the non-profit organization "wanted to see something that had a substantial benefit to the centre," noting its past contributions have included furniture and a grand piano.
"We are honoured to be part of this. We know the arts centre will use this to its fullest," he said.
