HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-04-27, Page 26PAGE 26. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2017.
Grand re -opening for Memorial Hall set May 19
A vision of the future
During an update on Blyth Arts and Cultural Initiative 14/19 Inc., Project Director Peter Smith
briefed council on the ongoing renovations at Blyth Memorial Hall, but also gave a glimpse of
what the Grant and Mildred Sparling Centre housing the Canadian Centre for Rural Creativity
will look like once the project is complete. Smith shared draft blueprints for the building, which
are available on The Citizen's website at northhuron.on.ca, as well as renderings like the one
of the building's garden area shown above.on during a presentation on April 18. (Image by
Dubbledam Inc. Architecture + Design)
Tourism will boom in Blyth: Simpson
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Napier Simpson of Regional
Tourism Organization 4 (RTO4)
wants North Huron Council to be
ready for the tourism opportunities
presenting themselves in Blyth.
In a presentation to council
members during North Huron's
April 18 meeting, Simpson said
there is "a lot happening in Blyth"
they needed to be ready to capitalize
on.
"There is this emerging
opportunity that is once in a lifetime
and, if we squander that and don't
capitalize on it, there will be
thousands and thousands of people
coming to Blyth, doing their thing
and leaving," he said. "We have an
opportunity right now to create a
different conversation around Blyth,
one that looks to capitalize and
harness all that new energy and
activity in a way that will build
Blyth into a long-term destination."
Simpson explained that, in 2010,
the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and
Sport decentralized tourism
initiatives into 13 different regions.
RTO4 includes Huron, Perth,
Waterloo and Wellington areas.
"The idea was to focus on things
regionally instead of always talking
about Toronto, Niagara Falls and
Ottawa, the three big tourist
destinations."
Simpson said the goal of the
regional tourism organizations is to
grow tourism, however they are not
funding bodies, but rather they
develop initiatives through
processes to measure how tourism
initiatives are working.
He explained that a process had
been developed through RTO4 with
consultants that is designed to make
sure programs find success.
Simpson said the opening of the
Blyth Cowbell Brewing Company,
the opening of the Grant and
Mildred Sparling Centre housing the
Canadian Centre for Rural
Creativity, the renovation of
Memorial Hall and the Goderich-to-
Guelph Rail Trail (G2G) represent a
significant convergence of tourism
opportunities and the community
heads need to capitalize on them.
Simpson said North Huron and
Central Huron need to be partners
with the groups responsible for the
above opportunities and need to
"open up [a] dialogue."
"Unless you grab the opportunity
with the tens of thousands coming,
you will miss out," he said.
Simpson also said that Blyth
Cowbell Brewing Company
represents a new demographic that
will add to the tens of thousands the
Blyth Festival brings into the village
every year.
"There is an opportunity to do
what's always been done and hope
for an opportunity for everyone to
roll up their sleeves and start looking
at ways to keep the visitors there at
the end of their plans," Simpson
said.
He pointed to the south end of
Blyth as a problem, even with the
opening of Cowbell, as the
topography doesn't welcome
visitors to the village. He suggested
creating a "gateway" to draw people
north, into the village, saying the
sight lines that exist now aren't
conducive to welcoming visitors.
He said plans to "dress up the
town" should be considered
immediately such as gateway or
streetscape work.
"This is a brave new world and
new frontier," he said. "Any one of
these [potential partner
organizations] could be a significant
party, but there are four.
"How can we get involved in a
way that will help capitalize and
develop Blyth as a destination?" he
asked council.
Simpson said all he was asking
was just for council to consider the
program, saying financial assistance
wasn't immediately needed due to
funding from Huron County and the
province.
"This is... something you can bite
into because it represents an
opportunity to create economic
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prosperity," he said. "These things
are going to happen, but they will
happen in isolation if not worked on
together."
Council received Simpson's
report.
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
The remodeled Blyth Memorial
Hall will officially open on May 19
with a special ribbon cutting
ceremony and tours of the updated
facility.
The date was announced during
North Huron council's April 19
regular meeting, where Blyth Arts
and Cultural Initiative 14/19 Project
Director Peter Smith updated
council on the progress ongoing
renovations at Blyth Community
Memorial Hall which are set to be
completed early next month.
The opening will start at 4 p.m.
and Smith said it's going to be an
exciting event.
"People will have the opportunity
there to come and kick the tires,"
Smith said. "They will see what the
hall is going to look like."
He also gave council a sneak -peek
of what the Grant and Mildred
Sparling Centre housing the
Canadian Centre for Rural Creativity
will look like during the report.
Smith reported that, since the
inception of 14/19, more than $7
million has been raised by the
company with more than 90 per cent
of it spent locally on Blyth Memorial
Hall, the Grant and Mildred Sparling
Centre, events like the Rural Talks
To Rural conference and upgrades to
the Phillips Studio.
Smith pointed to the upgrades to
Blyth Memorial Hall, which are set
to conclude soon, and said the final
bill for the project, which was phase
one of the original three-phase 14/19
mandate, ended up costing
$4,291,801.
"Financially, the Sparling family
donated $1 million, the township
$500,000, the provincial govern-
ment donated $3.3 million and the
federal government almost $1
million," he said. "Community
members have stepped forward,
continuing [to ask] us to take care of
the site."
The investment, however, wasn't
just a financial one according to
Smith.
"The hall represents the stories of
the community," he said. "There is a
social aspect there, with the Blyth
Centre for the Arts in its 43rd season
producing plays that are translated
into a dozen languages across the
world."
Upgrades to the site include a
completely redesigned lower hall, an
expanded walkway in the "link"
between Memorial Hall and the
Blyth Festival offices, a public
address system, redesigned stairs to
the upper hall and balcony areas and
a complete overhaul of the bar and
kitchen sections with significant
culinary upgrades.
The building also boasts a new
heating, ventilation and air
conditioning (HVAC) system
specially designed to run qietly as to
not interfere with stage
performances.
"It's really exciting," Smith said
during his presentation.
North Huron Council donated
$500,000 to the project, which Smith
Continued on page 27
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