By Vicki BROOKER Review Staff
“We’re looking to house not only fine arts, but other arts from martial arts to quilting,” says Don Conrad, president of the recently formed Elk Point and District Allied Arts Society. “It’s a more open concept than if we focused on fine arts.” As an association, “we're doing really well,” Conrad says. “We have our executive and seven directors in place, we have our bylaws done and we’ve applied for incorporation.” The group, with Millie Orr as its vice-president, Deanna Easthope as secretary and Thomas Kondla as treasurer, plans to develop the warehouse space on the east side of Northern Lights Library System headquarters into a facility which will serve all the various art forms.
To ensure the facility will accommodate the needs of the user groups, “we have done a needs assessment and taken their requests. Formalized plans for development are being drawn up now, and these will be presented for a feasibility study to see if we comply with all the standards and codes.”
The society plans to develop the building “in phases,” Conrad says. “The first phase will be the basic necessities, washrooms, dressing rooms and a stage.” Public washrooms are “the key element. We can’t do anything without them. We know they’ll be costly, but they have to be done.” Once the washrooms are in place, the building would be usable for events, Conrad said. “We’ve had to rent a portable stage before, and we could do it again.” Those events would be a welcome source of funds for further development. Financially, the society is only at the point of selling $5 memberships “and we've had a few donations toward seed money,” Conrad says. “But we do have our first fundraiser underway.”
That fundraiser is under the auspices of the Elk Point Community Choir, one of the user groups. Millie Orr, who sings and acts with the choir, says ““we’re selling tickets on a one-minute Co-op shopping spree so we're promoting shopping local at the same time.. The winner is guaranteed $400 worth of groceries, but if they’d rather chase around and get more than that, they can do that, too.” The draw will be made on Elk Point Fair weekend, Orr says.
“If this is successful, we’ll do it again before Christmas. We kind of want this as a regular fundraiser.” The society is also planning to hold an auction of donated items in the spring, and are asking local residents to donate “basement goodies,” Orr says. “We plan to hold it early, probably before garage sale time.” The society also has a grant committee hard at work, and hopefully there will be a positive response to our applications,” Conrad says. “We’re definitely moving ahead, all that’s holding us back is money.” Support for the project is coming from all directions, Conrad notes.
MLA Ray Danyluk “is very supportive, and we have representatives from the Town of Elk Point and County of St. Paul, who are also very supportive.” Added to that, “we have a very active and determined board, who are full of ideas. Our meetings are very good, and we have a good representation from the community, including all the user groups, the Elks Lodge and the Pioneer Circle.”
“We don’t want to compete with their facilities,” Conrad hastens to add. “We want to complement them and enhance the town. We hope to develop a facility that will offer space for activities that are not currently available.” Last week’s meeting was “exciting,” Conrad says. “We got out our measuring tapes and decided where things will go ”
