Vancouver Art Gallery needs council vote for new home

The Vancouver Art Gallery could get anew home at Cambie and West Georgia streetsif city council approves recommendations from a staff report and the gallery comes up with $150 million.

In a report to council dated April 15, city staff recommendthe current site of a parking lotat 688 Cambiefor the gallery'slarger, futurehome.

Kathleen Bartels, director of the Vancouver Art Gallery, says the recommendation is just what the organization has been seeking for years.

"Well, we're absolutley thrilled," she said. "We've just outgrown this facility in every possible way."

The gallery, which is squeezed for space in a former provincial courthouse on Hornby Street, is only able to exhibit aboutthree per cent of its permanent collection at any given time.

The gallery has beennegotiating for years with the City of Vancouver to find a space on which to develop a larger building, and in 2010 said it has found an ideal location at 688 Cambiea full city block formerly known as Larwill Park.

Theproposalin thecity staff report isto put 1.8 acres of prime real estate in the gallery's hands for 99 years. Council will vote on the issue next week.

Apotential dealbreaker could be the project's financial costs, and the$150 million that the gallery has to secure infunding, including grants from the federal and provincial governments.

ButBartels says securinga leaseis a necessary step to moving forward.

"We couldn't do any fundraising until we had a site, and now the next phase is to secure our architect and start our fundraising plan," she says.

The Vancouver Art Gallery has been seeking a new space for years. Previous suggestions and options explored includerelocating to the Plaza of Nations along False Creek, ormoving into the downtown Canada Post building.

Bartels says it's too early to say when the facility could be finished.