Plans revealed for $12M disability arts venue in northwest Calgary

National AccessArts Centre to be constructed on Brownsea Drive NW

CBC News Calgary August 10, 2021

A new $12-million multidisciplinary disability arts venue is in the works for northwest Calgary.

The National AccessArts Centre will be constructed next to the former Scouts Canada building on Brownsea Drive NW.

It will feature a performing arts venue, an art gallery and outdoor gathering spaces.

“This project will bring artists from across Canada to want to be able to be a part of this facility to showcase their work, to be trained in our facilities. It’s going to really be one of a kind,” said J.S. Ryu, executive director of the In-Definite Arts Society, which is spearheading the project.

The building will also have the second location of Lil E Coffee Cafe, a local business that employs individuals with disabilities.

Most of the money for the project is coming from the federal government’s Cultural Spaces Fund.

Ryu says the centre will help make Canada a global player in this segment of the arts

“Every city has a performing arts venue, a museum, a visual arts gallery, but no other major metropolitan city on this side of the planet is going to have specific infrastructure that is designed for artists with disabilities,” he said.

The plan is to have the new facility completed by the end of 2023.

The Indefinite Arts Society was temporarily forced to leave its current home in 2018 when the roof of the adjacent Fairview Arena in the city’s southeast collapsed under the weight of heavy snow.

Source CBC News Calgary

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