A proposed public art studio project has been shot down by the Town of Prescott.
The “RiverWalk Creative Centre” proposal, presented to council at this week’s meeting, would have seen the old pump house building at the corner of Sophia and Corrine Streets turned into a multi-use art studio.
“I’m all in favour of new projects, I’m just cautious about whether we’re starting something, and that we’re starting a cost to the town that we can’t keep up.” explained Councillor Ruth Lockett at the meeting.
Some members of council also expressed concern about whether Prescott’s population is large enough to support the facility. Councillor Leanne Burton compared it to the Cedar Ridge Creative Centre in Scarborough.
“It’s a very active centre,” she said. “Pottery, woodworking, scrapbooking, drawing, stained glass, painting, all that stuff, it’s a very active centre, but their population is, you know, 62,000 minimum. So, I really like this idea, bringing this to our town, but I think we need to go down a different road.”
Mayor Gauri Shankar said even though council voted not to support the project for now, it could in the future if circumstances change.