St. Catharines' Mayor, Brian McMullan
by Sasha Lovegrove
by Sasha Lovegrove
Mayor Brian McMullan is the esteemed elected official of the largest city in the Niagara Region. We are aware of the purposeful and sometimes ceremonious aspects of the role as Mayor of St. Catharines, and often wonder how some projects appear to collaborate so seamlessly. One such project is the highly anticipated Niagara Centre for the Arts about to be built on St. Paul Street.
In this two-part series, Mayor Brian McMullan was gracious enough to respond to inquires regarding this already noteworthy accomplishment soon to grace Niagara
INTERVIEWER: When did you first hear about this project?
MAYOR: The concept of an Arts Centre has been talked about for many years, but it was when I was running for Mayor…I was asked during the campaign if I would work on it if I was elected; if I was successful, would [I] work hard towards establishing a Performing Arts Centre in Downtown St. Catharines, hopefully or possibly in conjunction with Brock University. And I said "Absolutely!”…it was one of my priorities. Since I have been elected, I have been working on it virtually every day since the last three and a half years.
INTERVIEWER: It's been a lot of work. It's been a big project.
MAYOR: It's been a great partnership with Brock. We have…been able to reach an agreement and partnership with Brock University for the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine Performing Arts, which will be coupled with the Niagara Centre for the Performing Arts. It's a joint project, 100 million dollars in scope, and it's just very exciting for our community.
INTERVIEWER: What do you feel is the greatest accomplishment on this project to date?
MAYOR: I think [it would be] Brock and the city to obtain the funding; it is a very hard project. [Also, the] opportunities with tourism as well as helping to revitalize downtown and providing a much-needed venture for artists, for young people and artists to perform in. There are many benefits. And it was a challenge to get the provincial and federal funding. The city's one-third, so it was a matter of being able to obtain two-thirds funding. [T]hrough a lot of work throughout the community - the arts community, to Brock, to the city - we were successful, especially with that last announcement for the 26.3 million for the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine Performing Arts.
INTERVIEWER: Everyone's very proud of that.
MAYOR: They certainly are, and Marilyn is a wonderful patron. [It’s] a great example of how a member of our community is making a difference because that was an additional $15 million contribution for the chairs and for the ongoing costs to help spur us on to the ultimate success that we've had with Minster Bradley and MP Dykstra. And this is what I'm most proud of: it was truly a community effort [with the] business community, the chamber, individual citizens, [and] people for the arts and culture. We're all pushing and pulling for this in the same direction.
INTERVIEWER: What kind of influence will the Niagara Arts Centre have on the community? Culturally, financially?
MAYOR: Tremendous influence. It will be, once built and up and operational, the culture hub of the Niagara Region without a doubt. It will have a huge impact in terms of giving. Our very talented groups, from Niagara Symphony to Chorus Niagara, all these groups of various sizes get a proper facility [of] four theatres in one, in which to practice in and which to perform before live audiences. It will provide opportunities. There will be the wine route. We are working with the Wine Council of Ontario to have the wine route to come through downtown St. Catharines along St. Paul Street. So, tremendous tourist opportunities are about to bring people downtown and to provide, just really, an interesting environment for people - both locals as well as visitors - to experience it. And we're quite excited about with what the new downtown will look like in two or three years time once this is built. It will be something that we are very proud of and that we will all be able to enjoy.
INTERVIEWER: It is exciting to see how the historical aspect of St. Catharines and the new building is going to bring everything together. Tie the old with the new?
MAYOR: Absolutely. We were back in the day as they call it, one hundred years ago, we had the spa. The old Welland House was a spa. We had the old opera house [that] was renowned throughout Ontario and parts of New York State. People would travel from all over back then, literally by horse and buggy, to come to "The Spas" as it was called, and to come to The Opera House which was unfortunately, burnt down a number of years ago, but we can do that again. And we'll play that role, as you mentioned, for the Niagara Region which has a population of almost a half a million people. But there are also a lot of visitors. We have Niagara Falls which draws millions of visitors every year. If we can just get a small number of them to come to St. Catharines to experience what we have to offer downtown, it will be good. It will be positive for everyone.
INTERVIEWER: It will. It will draw lots of arts and culture into Niagara rather than seeing Niagara for the tourism of the Falls. It will bring people here in an artistic manner?
MAYOR: Absolutely.
INTERVIEWER: A lot of the public is probably unaware of the cultural events. Do you think that the new Niagara Centre will make them more aware of what's going on?
MAYOR: For sure, because when you have a centre of [this] type, there'll be constant advertising for what's playing this week or this month, next month, so there'll have to be an advertising budget. I think just the very nature of wanting to promote the centre will make people much more aware. We are planning [on] having it significantly larger than the Sean O'Sullivan theatre that is currently at Brock. We're expecting more people to come, and I think it's a more inviting atmosphere to be downtown. I always say that on a cold winter's night that parking lot is a little foreboding out at Brock. You're parking some distance from the theatre and having to walk in. I think people enjoy the downtown experience, [and would like to] maybe catch a bite to eat before or after a performance. And be in a brand new venue that will truly be world class.
In this two-part series, Mayor Brian McMullan was gracious enough to respond to inquires regarding this already noteworthy accomplishment soon to grace Niagara
INTERVIEWER: When did you first hear about this project?
MAYOR: The concept of an Arts Centre has been talked about for many years, but it was when I was running for Mayor…I was asked during the campaign if I would work on it if I was elected; if I was successful, would [I] work hard towards establishing a Performing Arts Centre in Downtown St. Catharines, hopefully or possibly in conjunction with Brock University. And I said "Absolutely!”…it was one of my priorities. Since I have been elected, I have been working on it virtually every day since the last three and a half years.
INTERVIEWER: It's been a lot of work. It's been a big project.
MAYOR: It's been a great partnership with Brock. We have…been able to reach an agreement and partnership with Brock University for the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine Performing Arts, which will be coupled with the Niagara Centre for the Performing Arts. It's a joint project, 100 million dollars in scope, and it's just very exciting for our community.
INTERVIEWER: What do you feel is the greatest accomplishment on this project to date?
MAYOR: I think [it would be] Brock and the city to obtain the funding; it is a very hard project. [Also, the] opportunities with tourism as well as helping to revitalize downtown and providing a much-needed venture for artists, for young people and artists to perform in. There are many benefits. And it was a challenge to get the provincial and federal funding. The city's one-third, so it was a matter of being able to obtain two-thirds funding. [T]hrough a lot of work throughout the community - the arts community, to Brock, to the city - we were successful, especially with that last announcement for the 26.3 million for the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine Performing Arts.
INTERVIEWER: Everyone's very proud of that.
MAYOR: They certainly are, and Marilyn is a wonderful patron. [It’s] a great example of how a member of our community is making a difference because that was an additional $15 million contribution for the chairs and for the ongoing costs to help spur us on to the ultimate success that we've had with Minster Bradley and MP Dykstra. And this is what I'm most proud of: it was truly a community effort [with the] business community, the chamber, individual citizens, [and] people for the arts and culture. We're all pushing and pulling for this in the same direction.
INTERVIEWER: What kind of influence will the Niagara Arts Centre have on the community? Culturally, financially?
MAYOR: Tremendous influence. It will be, once built and up and operational, the culture hub of the Niagara Region without a doubt. It will have a huge impact in terms of giving. Our very talented groups, from Niagara Symphony to Chorus Niagara, all these groups of various sizes get a proper facility [of] four theatres in one, in which to practice in and which to perform before live audiences. It will provide opportunities. There will be the wine route. We are working with the Wine Council of Ontario to have the wine route to come through downtown St. Catharines along St. Paul Street. So, tremendous tourist opportunities are about to bring people downtown and to provide, just really, an interesting environment for people - both locals as well as visitors - to experience it. And we're quite excited about with what the new downtown will look like in two or three years time once this is built. It will be something that we are very proud of and that we will all be able to enjoy.
INTERVIEWER: It is exciting to see how the historical aspect of St. Catharines and the new building is going to bring everything together. Tie the old with the new?
MAYOR: Absolutely. We were back in the day as they call it, one hundred years ago, we had the spa. The old Welland House was a spa. We had the old opera house [that] was renowned throughout Ontario and parts of New York State. People would travel from all over back then, literally by horse and buggy, to come to "The Spas" as it was called, and to come to The Opera House which was unfortunately, burnt down a number of years ago, but we can do that again. And we'll play that role, as you mentioned, for the Niagara Region which has a population of almost a half a million people. But there are also a lot of visitors. We have Niagara Falls which draws millions of visitors every year. If we can just get a small number of them to come to St. Catharines to experience what we have to offer downtown, it will be good. It will be positive for everyone.
INTERVIEWER: It will. It will draw lots of arts and culture into Niagara rather than seeing Niagara for the tourism of the Falls. It will bring people here in an artistic manner?
MAYOR: Absolutely.
INTERVIEWER: A lot of the public is probably unaware of the cultural events. Do you think that the new Niagara Centre will make them more aware of what's going on?
MAYOR: For sure, because when you have a centre of [this] type, there'll be constant advertising for what's playing this week or this month, next month, so there'll have to be an advertising budget. I think just the very nature of wanting to promote the centre will make people much more aware. We are planning [on] having it significantly larger than the Sean O'Sullivan theatre that is currently at Brock. We're expecting more people to come, and I think it's a more inviting atmosphere to be downtown. I always say that on a cold winter's night that parking lot is a little foreboding out at Brock. You're parking some distance from the theatre and having to walk in. I think people enjoy the downtown experience, [and would like to] maybe catch a bite to eat before or after a performance. And be in a brand new venue that will truly be world class.
Brought to you By Retirement News Weekly
Written By Sasha Lovegrove
Edited By Olivia Worobec
