Folk fest loses Ninth Street office space

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This article was published 07/04/2011 (5377 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At a time when it most needs a reliable office from which to co-ordinate its activities, the Brandon Folk, Music and Arts Society is scrambling to find a new home.

For the past several months, the BFMAS had been housing its daily operations in donated commercial space on the main floor of the former Manitoba Government Telephones building at 19 Ninth St., within the former Roost home decor store.

But now, they’re being forced to pack up shop and move, as the space is being leased to another user, beginning next month.

Considering the society is in the midst of planning for this year’s Brandon Folk Festival and is continuing the coordination of regular community workshops and performances, BFMAS chair Shandra MacNeill says the unplanned move has left them in a pretty desperate place.

"It’s a difficult situation," she said. "Considering that we are coming up on full-time staff as of the second week of April, it’s a fairly critical time for us to be able to hunker down and go to work."

The society is certainly grateful to have received the donation of the Roost space and bears no ill feelings against the owner of their space, MacNeill stressed, adding that their previous two locations in the downtown have also been donated.

It’s that community generosity the BFMAS is hopeful will present itself once again and, at the very least, provide them a downtown space to help them get through a very busy summer season.

"We don’t want to have to jeopardize any of our programming. We’ve worked really hard and our funding bodies have contributed money to support the programming and the community," she said.

"Also, I think we’ve proven our commitment to downtown. We’ve spent a lot of our own resources, making sure that we are downtown. So hopefully, we can find another space that a generous person will be willing to donate to us, at least until the end of festival."

In return for a donation of downtown space that is publicly accessible and able to facilitate a staff of at least 10 people, the society — which is a charitable organization — is willing to provide a donor with sponsorship packages for its various events, MacNeill said.

The society’s ultimate goal of a permanent home in the downtown hinges on the success of the Strand Project, the approximately $4-million renovation of the former Strand Theatre on 10th Street into a multi-use community performance space that will also include a number of offices and retail spaces.

A $2-million request for federal funding for the project is currently being reviewed.

The society must vacate the Roost space by May 1, MacNeill said, adding they currently do not have any potential replacement space on their radar.

The owner of the Roost space, Rodney Weibe of Ben Weibe Construction, could not be reached for comment yesterday on his intentions for the commercial property.

However, speculation has recently centred around the Brandon Museum and General Archives Inc. securing the space for setup of a storefront aimed at raising public interest in the creation of a permanent general museum and archives in Brandon.

Members of the museum’s board of directors would not comment on the issue yesterday, instead referring the Sun to a news conference being held late this afternoon at Brandon City Hall, where the group will be making "several exciting announcements" about its future.