Salt Spring’s elected officials will seek expressions of interest for longer-term use of the property formerly occupied by Phoenix School, and in the short term voted to offer one local nonprofit an available studio elsewhere “as soon as possible.”
Local Community Commission (LCC) members unanimously agreed to offer a temporary booking of the “upstairs lookout” studio at the Salt Spring Island Multi Space (SIMS) facility to the Chuan Society, who had made two earlier proposals for use of the former Phoenix Property as a community hub –– not a “warming space” in name — although the urgency to get something going before the winter made clear at least part of the hope is to make space for people to get warm during inclement weather.
Using the former Phoenix School property –– even the portion not temporarily slated for parks maintenance to use during their new facility’s construction –– was off the table in the immediate term, largely due to budget constraints related to booking and operating the newly leased building.
“The reality is that for any user group –– you know, even our sewers and weavers –– we have to have staff to support that use,” said Capital Regional District (CRD) acting senior manager Dan Ovington, outlining options for the LCC Thursday, Oct. 17. “That means we open and close the building; we ensure people aren’t staying there overnight; we ensure that hot plates or glue guns or [other] things are turned off.”
Staff are budgeted and available to do that at SIMS, Ovington said, but not elsewhere. LCC members agreed that for now, that made the SIMS space the best option to be ready in time for winter.
“Though we would have appreciated the greater capacity the Phoenix site would have afforded us,” said Chuan Society chair Kajin Goh, “if the SIMS offer is confirmed, then the island has at least potentially gained a forward advance in having a winter daytime drop-in and resource centre for a number of community members during our most challenging months. While this is still a yet-to-be finalized process, the prospects are looking a little more promising for the oncoming season.”
The Gulf Islands School District still owns the former Phoenix School property, and has agreed to lease it to the CRD.
CRD director and LCC member Gary Holman said he hasn’t necessarily “given up” on the former Phoenix School site as a possibility for Chuan in the future, but he agreed it was unlikely it could happen quickly enough to beat the winter –– and that the SIMS studio space would provide a short-term opportunity for the society when cold weather arises.
“It’s also an opportunity to develop a relationship,” said Holman, calling earlier manifestations of warming spaces on Salt Spring “guerrilla actions” born out of a frustration that no properties were being offered.
“There’s a need to establish a working relationship,” said Holman, “for both parties to demonstrate that this might be able to work out –– and if we can work it out in the short term [at SIMS], maybe it paves the way to work out arrangements in other locations.”
The LCC noted multiple conditions for Chuan to use the space at SIMS, largely consistent with other rental agreements; booking would be offered until March 31 and limited to regular building hours, with staff verifying liability insurance, supervision and an activity schedule. A space of the size being offered will likely run $375 per month, Ovington said.
“It’s less space than they really would like,” said LCC commissioner Brian Webster. “Their ability to do stuff will be somewhat constrained by that. For our staff, it’s a shift in accommodating activities that they weren’t anticipating to have in the building. So there’s some mutual give and take here; I’m confident, based on the conversations that I had with the proponent, that that they are adaptable and that they can make this work.”