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This is the Life: A dream dies as Creston's Ingham culture centre society folds

The group was never able to generate the public enthusiasm necessary for such a large and costly project to succeed...
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Lorne Eckersley is the publisher of the Creston Valley Advance.

The irony on Thursday was impossible to ignore. On a day in which one society — Footlighters Theatre Society — was starting a run of three sold-out performances of the musical (and very funny) Cinderella, another — Friends of the Ingham Arts and Culture Centre Society — announced it was folding.

Talk about the potential for the old auto centre at 15th Avenue and Canyon Street began when it was first used for an art show a number of years back. In the ensuing years it would be used for a succession of arts events — once or twice a year. With the leadership and vision of artists like Sandy Kunze, Alison Masters, Alison Bjorkman and Maggie Leal-Valias, the interior was transformed into a magical place. For a few days at a time. It wasn’t hard to get caught up in the discussion of what a great asset a completely renovated building would be in providing a year-round arts centre, something that the Creston Valley is lacking.

But one person’s silk is another’s sow’s ear, and the group that eventually put together an agreement to purchase the building from the Ingham family was never able to generate the public enthusiasm necessary for such a large and costly project to succeed.

There is a comparison in our recent history that is worth considering. At about the same time that the idea for the Ingham centre was fomenting, the former Creston Builders Supply and Home Hardware building was made available to the Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce. The chamber negotiated a very good price on the property and it took time, money and tremendous persistence to bring the project to completion. It was a tough slog, even with the involvement and influence of some of the valley’s most successful business people. A combination of diplomacy and arm-twisting was needed, along with the tireless efforts of several folks who simply weren’t going to let the project fail.

That building had more space than the chamber of commerce needed, but it had several advantages. It is ideally located on Highway 3, providing the visibility needed by a tourist information centre. It has a good amount of parking and it has suitable spaces for a number of other organizations to rent at a reasonable price.

The key difference, I think, is that the movers and shakers in the chamber of commerce were able to articulate their vision to the greater community, and they had the business background that gave their vision credibility. And they were starting with a better building.

The vision for the Ingham centre, on the other hand, might have been clear to the directors, but it didn’t become part of the community conversation. During the chamber of commerce process I had many visits from people who were working on it, few of which were directly to do with my role with this newspaper. The chamber directors clearly understood the need to get support from the broader community. That didn’t happen with the Ingham centre folks. I didn’t get visits and I didn’t get reports of any kind of buzz of excitement for the project. After all, even after the significant renovations were completed, it was going to take a lot of money to keep the arts centre in operation. An art gallery and arts and crafts co-op had both eventually failed on Canyon Street, and they were both entrepreneurial efforts. What would make the Ingham different?

I believe there is a need for an arts centre of some sort in Creston. But I was never able to find any personal enthusiasm for the Ingham centre. I just couldn’t, and it wasn’t for lack of trying, envision it in operation. I like the idea, I told others, but I wouldn’t put a cent of my own money into it.

A few weeks ago, rumblings began to surface that the Friends of the Ingham was about to fold. It couldn’t have been an easy decision, with $70,000 from Regional District of Central Kootenay areas A, B and C in the bank. But I admonished one person who was involved with the group, saying that for two years its prime mission was to build community support for the project. You are further behind than when you started, I told him.

In a letter presented at last week’s Creston Valley services committee meeting, there is a snipe toward the Town of Creston: “We hope that in the future decisions and support will be given to projects based on their merit and community value and not on personalities or being part of a particular group.” The comment seems to refer to the recent election and the Action Creston team’s involvement in it and the Ingham centre.

It might be convenient to lay the blame of the society’s failure at the feet of the Town of Creston (and me, probably, because I made the issue public) but I think the truth is that this project didn’t die. It never came to life.

Lorne Eckersley is the publisher of the Creston Valley Advance.