The Vancouver Concert Hall and Theatre Society is making a public plea for the city to devote the full three-acre block of land at 688 Cambie Street to cultural use.

In a news release addressing a city staff report, Ron Stern, chair of the VCHTS, said the organization, which represents a coalition of more than 20 music, theatre, and performing arts organizations in the city, endorsed the report's recommendations. These include reserving two acres of the land for cultural use and giving the Vancouver Art Gallery two years to deliver a viable plan for a new gallery on the land behind the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, formerly Larwill Park. The report also strongly endorses a shared cultural complex, making specific mention of the Vancouver Concert Hall and Theatre Society.

But Stern also stated that the cultural groups who would occupy the space should absorb the costs of the $40 million encumbrance on the site—money borrowed by the city against the land to pay for upgrades to the civic theatres prior to the 2010 Winter Games.

“We’d look forward to working with the city to recoup those costs,” said Stern in the release. “The $40 million should be the responsibility of the cultural groups seeking to occupy the site. The long-term economic and cultural benefits will far exceed $40 million.”

As reported earlier in the Straight, the city’s general manager of community services, David MacLellan, has insisted the office towers were non-negotiable. “We’re not looking at them [the VAG] to solve our financial problems,” he said.

The news release from the VCHTS marks the beginning of what is sure to be a vigorous campaign by the society to secure support for the development of a 1,950-seat concert hall and 450 studio theatre alongside a new art gallery.

Supporting the efforts of the VCHTS are the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, which would move its concerts to the new concert hall, along with MusicFest Vancouver, the Vancouver Recital Society, Coastal Jazz and Blues, and the Vancouver Chamber Choir. Organizations who would use the smaller 450-seat theatre include Chor Leoni Men’s Choir, Blackbird Theatre, musica intima, the Electric Company, Music on Main, and the Vancouver International Dance Festival.

The city report on the cultural hub has been referred to a reconvened meeting February 1.