Carolyn Parrish calls Living Arts Centre “waste of space”. City report proposes “new vision” for the Centre, including theatre, convention centre and housing projects.
Time is running out for Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre. The almost 30 year-old multi-use performance venue loses millions of dollars a year and needs upwards of $120 million in state-of-good-repair maintenance work.
Also, the Mayor doesn’t like it. “When I was a councillor I used to look out over the Living Arts Centre and think to myself, what a waste of space,” Mayor Carolyn Parrish told council on March 11. “I think the Living Arts Centre is badly designed.”
City staff agree. In a report presented to council on March 11, staff proposed a “new vision” for the Living Arts Centre and Downtown Precinct Lands. Highlights include a “new state-of-the-art music hub” with a 2500-5000 seat performance venue, recording studios and a music school, a convention centre and hotel, new office and rental housing development, a “Sky Park” and enhanced Community Common Park, and 1500-3000 underground parking spaces.
“There were concerns from several councillors about the plan’s costs and impact on taxpayers.“
The report says “there is an opportunity to transform almost 12 acres of land in the city’s downtown core,” and that it will “shape Mississauga’s downtown for generations.” While council did vote to receive the staff report and endorse its vision, there were concerns from several councillors about the plan’s costs and impact on taxpayers.
“We’re in an affordability crisis,” Councillor Dipika Damerla told council. “Mississauga is more expensive to live in now, as far as housing goes, than New York City. We have to be careful about where we’re putting our money… so that if the conference centre becomes a white elephant, it does not fall on the shoulders of the taxpayers.”
While Damerla emphasized that she believes “government has a role in subsidizing some things,” such as “the arts,” she did not think the city should be building a conference centre, especially given what she called, “the conference centre arms race.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford also recently announced plans to build a new convention centre in downtown Toronto to replace the aging Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Councillor Joe Horneck also wanted to discuss “financial redlines.” He asked staff to include in a future report some kind of spending limit, asking, “What are our cutoff points where we say, what is the limit of public funds…where is the point where we say we can’t borrow more than x?”
In response, Mayor Parrish told him she found his request “mildly offensive,” arguing that “there’s no way we can set limits.” Parrish also said, “we’ve never spent money at this council without going through council” and made it clear that Mississauga residents and taxpayers would be consulted and kept informed throughout the process.
However, she did lament that when the Living Arts Centre was originally built, “the materials, everything were skimped on” and that in being frugal, former Mayor Hazel McCallion “made a big mistake on the Living Arts Centre. It should not have deteriorated like it did.”
Conversely, Mayor Parrish compared the future of Mississauga’s downtown to a bird about to take flight. She called the plan an “incredible moment for our city” and warned against putting “lead weights” on the bird’s legs by focussing too much on costs.
Deputy Mayor Matt Mahoney said that while Mississauga has been “known as that sleepy suburb of Toronto,“ it’s actually a “world class city” that needs “a world class venue and facility.”
City staff, the Mayor, and councillors all agree they look forward to holding public consultations to hear what residents think about this plan and the future of the Living Arts Centre and the downtown area.
