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Alberni arts plan in works

An Arts, Culture and Heritage Plan for the City of Port Alberni should be created by early next year.

An Arts, Culture and Heritage Plan for the City of Port Alberni should be created by early next year.

“On Sept. 12 this year council gave direction to improve the principal creation of the arts and heritage plan,” Port Alberni CAO, Tim Pley said at an Oct. 11 council meeting.

“At the end of this consultation phase there will be a road map, there will be a model for council’s consideration and adoption and then from there we will begin to develop an implementation plan. This is just identifying the model and who the stakeholders will be,” Pley said.

Director of Community Services, Theresa Kingston, provided a report to Port Alberni City Council on Sept. 12 that an Arts, Culture and Heritage plan could assist in finding ways to identify priorities in the arts sector, support development of partnerships and provide community-driven opportunities to develop pride of place and civic identity.

In addition, the plan would aim to improve communication and cooperation amongst stakeholders and review, assess and improve funding models to better meet the needs of the community.

According to Kingston’s report, after two meetings, a group of stakeholders in Alberni indicated that there is a need for a more comprehensive plan.

“Currently the delivery of such services is fragmented, with a number of organizations delivering services and programs,” Kingston states in her report. “Without having an integrated plan, the efforts of these groups are not coordinated and opportunities for increased collaboration are often overlooked.”

Following her initial report, Kingston was

tasked with providing city council with further details regarding the timeline and costs of the Arts, Culture and Heritage Plan.

Funding for the arts plan will come from the Community Development budget in the Parks, Recreation and Heritage Department.

“I think that this is a great way to bring all the stakeholders together,” Coun. Sharie Minions said. “I expressed concern our last meeting that I am a bit worried that we are getting away from our original goal that was specifically around the museum. I understand that looking at just the museum is maybe just the small picture when we need to be looking at the bigger picture and find a model that’s going to work well for the future.”

karly.blats@albernivalleynews.com

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