By Becky Day
The arts and culture are the vital threads that weave the region of Niagara together, says Rosemary Hale, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Brock University in Niagara.
The historic Canada Haircloth mill in downtown St. Catharines could be transformed into a performing arts centre for Niagara. Photo by Doug Draper
Hale stressed that point late this March during a talk she gave as part of an ongoing special dinner series being featured through this year at the Keefer Mansion in Thorold, Ontario.
Hale’s talk, titled ‘Arts, Culture and a bit of Haircloth’, also focused on a unique vision for the Canada Haircloth heritage property and is one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, an extraordinary facility to be located in St.Catharines, Ontario’s downtown.
Hale is passionate about designing new creative places. Her talk on the social and economic potential of the Arts in Niagara had a table of forty Niagara notables engaged in thought provoking discussion.
Urban planner Glenn Barr suggested St. Paul Street, St. Catharines’ main downtown street, be redesigned to be more pedestrian friendly for outdoor patios He said there is a need to re-educate ourselves, and get away from teaching and thinking about cars first.
“As we get more people downtown, we get more of a voice,” said Rob Gabriel, Thorold regional councillor. “It may not happen overnight, but reusing our older buildings, creating new spaces and adding cultural life can bring life back to downtowns.”
Hale encouraged those at the table to continue chatting up the arts in the downtown core, and emphasized how the pieces of the puzzle need to work together.
“Make that voice known to the people who need to hear it,” she said. “We’re building for the future (and) I believe there is momentum and it is our turn to make this happen.”
The group also talked about how to keep youth in the city, with over 80 per cent of Brock students coming from other areas. The consensus around the table focused on combining talent, creating a viable interesting core, and boosting the residential base.
Hale said there’s one common belief in the region, and that is people are interested in Niagara succeeding.
“This will happen because there are enough people pushing in the right direction,” said Walter Sendzik, Chamber Manager. “Continue to talk it up, talk about the possibilities and the opportunities, and make sure people are aware. This city is full of skeptics because of our history. But I think the energy is there, and we all have a role to play.”
The Keefer Mansion has been hosting the special dinner series to foster dialogue on subjects of importance to the development of our greater Niagara region. The series is scheduled to continue on a monthly basis until October 2010. For more information, go to http://www.keefermansion.com/specialevents.html
(Becky Day is a Niagara journalist and publisher of the online news and commentary site Thorold Politics At Its you can visit at www.niagarafreelance.com. You can also visit her site www.theniagarapost.com to link to news from across the region.)
(Click on www.niagaraatlarge.com for Niagara At Large for more news and commentary on our greater Niagara region.)
Niagara At Large 
The creation of the preforming arts center in downtonwn St. Catharines would be a great achievement, especially by its impetus to historic preservation. One of the reasons for this project that is not generally well understood, is that Brock’s perfoming arts facilities are inadequate, as any one who has actually venured down to the dungeons below the Press Theatre should recognize
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