Stymied staircase: the steps up to the P.A. Arts Centre along with the ramp will get a much-needed $150,000 restoration.(Ian Gustafson/paNOW Staff) 

By Glenn Hicks

access for all

P.A.’s oldest building to get entry fix

Aug 5, 2020 | 8:00 AM

Access to the entrance of Prince Albert’s oldest building is expected to return in the coming months.

City council has approved the $150,000 fix to the crumbling staircase and ramp at the Arts Centre next to city hall. Entry to the facility is currently restricted.

The city’s arts and culture coordinator Judy MacLeod Campbell said it’s very important the site — dating back to 1893 – has a safe entrance that is also sympathetic to its heritage designation.

“Over the last few years the stairs have really deteriorated, especially the concrete on the back side,” she told paNOW. “They’ve also always been quite steep and narrow as well, so we’re really looking forward to aesthetically what [the project] will do, but more importantly the safety and accessibility for all.”

The building was once an opera house and also home to city hall for a short spell.

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The repair project failed to secure half of the funding through a federal grant but it was deemed an urgent need so city council approved taking $75,000 from its Fiscal Stabilization Fund, which is a sort of rainy day fund for very pressing needs.

Monies could have been drawn from the city’s Civic Facilities Reserve but that has been significantly depleted lately by the $6.5 million land purchase for the new recreation and aquatic centre. In future years this fund will also be used to pay off the $16 million in borrowing for the construction of that new facility.

Director of community services Jody Boulet said the staircase and ramp project is about accessibility but also respecting history.

“We want to ensure it meets all the heritage standards set out by the upper levels of government,” he explained. “There’s certainly a lot of historical importance to the facility, but then there’s the functional importance of having a safe entry and exit point for the public.”

The project is expected to start in September and should be finished by October.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow