389 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

And the Empire State would stand on Elk Lake if Mile 0 were the tip of Manhattan. It's all relative, and in Victoria having the gallery tucked away on Moss is like having the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Bronx.

[jonny]

Yes everything is relative. There is no point in comparing Victoria with the biggest city in North America.

[gumgum]

Yes there is! When I was in NY in the summer I didn't think to walk 3/4 lengths of Manhattan in a day, but the thought of walking to Oak Bay from d/t sounds a bit crazy.

[Mike K.]

The odd tourist might walk that stretch...once...but everyone else piles onto subways if they're traveling that far.

Here in Victoria I don't think the distance in itself is the issue. But removing someone from an urban setting and telling them to walk to a residential neighborhood a few kilometers away has never and will never go over well. Visitors want to stay downtown where after checking out a gallery they can think about where to sit down for a meal and not how to find their way back into downtown.

[G-Man]

People do walk to Craigdarroch in the Summer. I must have told 40 tourists in my life how to get there from downtown.

[jonny]

People do walk to Craigdarroch in the Summer. I must have told 40 tourists in my life how to get there from downtown.

 

This is true, but it's not really feasible now to move a castle, is it?

 

The art gallery has chosen to locate itself in a residential neighborhood far off the beaten path, which is a strange decision IMO. Downtown would make so much more sense.

[Jill]

The "strange decision" was undoubtedly helped enormously by the gift of the Spencer mansion.

[Mike K.]

As jonny said if they can spend $21 million on this project why not partner with a developer and custom build a tower podium? Imagine that design on a downtown street. Man...

[jonny]

As jonny said if they can spend $21 million on this project why not partner with a developer and custom build a tower podium? Imagine that design on a downtown street. Man...

 

I know. The potential is just amazing from that perspective. $21M and this is the location?

 

I am picturing a new art gallery at the base of Chard's future Yates St tower across from the Atrium...or how about an art gallery in the bottom of the Falls or Aria??? It would be so cool.  

[Mike K.]

If Chard can purchase the Capital 6 building and incorporate the land into his Yates project then we'd have lost a MAJOR opportunity, once again, to move the gallery downtown. Also lost is the opportunity to locate both the gallery and a new central library as part of one mega project.

[Bingo]

Can this be the Art Gallery?

[Nparker]

The location is good; the structure is horrible.

[aastra]

Somewhere in the original art gallery saga didn't we establish that the gallery could not/would not be located beneath residential units?

[Rob Randall]

^Yep, any major public gallery will want their own stand alone building for a number of reasons including security. For example, you don't want to have millions of dollars of artwork at risk because some idiot left a fry pan on the stove a couple of floors up. After hours security is another reason.

 

They also don't want the risk of being a tenant in someone else's development. Galleries need expensive and elaborate climate control and security and they can't make that investment knowing that the building owner might not renew their lease and replace them with a sushi joint. Similarly, most galleries are reluctant to own the building as they don't want their funds tied up in real estate and fear the hassle of being a landlord, even if it means extra revenue.

[thundergun]

Not that I want to stop the conversation about where the best spot for the AGGV would be, but wouldn't it seem like the location decision is non-changeable at this point?

[jonny]

If a bank can be in a residential building surely an Art Gallery can, right?

[29er Radio]

I have to say that various boards over the years at the Art Gallery tried really hard to figure out an appropriate downtown space. There were committees, site visits and careful thought put into how a move could come about. The money was never there, not government, not private donors. I think the plans for Moss Street represent a final resignation that downtown just ain't gonna happen for them.

this is a great example, just like the committees that decided our sewer treatment and bridge decisions to ban committees all together. If I cant get my family of 4 to agree on the next place for us to go on vacation when I am paying for it, then how are a group of non qualified people supposed to figure out how to help our city by locating the art gallery, sewage works....... Lord have mercy

[Bingo]

The location is good; the structure is horrible.

 

I like that iconic glass roof which at the time was a welcome addition to that area of the city.

Since the building has large expanses of theatre space why can't that be divided up into two or three stories of galleries?

I don't know how much floor area could be created if the entire building was devoted to gallery space? 

 

As for a previous mention of security, how protected will the art be in that old wooden mansion at the current location?

[Mike K.]

Commercial units can be leased or sold by the developer.

 

You're going to have the risk of fire in any development, anywhere. In a concrete building the chance of a fire on the 11th floor damaging art work in the podium is very slim and likely about equal to the risk of a fire occurring in the gallery itself.

[aastra]

I wonder what the chances are re: water flowing up from a lower level as versus flowing down from a higher level?