The federal and provincial governments are investing more than $2.9 million into a new media arts centre in Windsor. The Windsor Centre for Film, Digital Media and the Creative Arts will renovate a historic downtown church to become the new arts centre.
An article in the Windsor Star states that the contributions are broken down as follows:
- Federal government is contributing over $1.1 million towards the project through the Community, Culture and Recreation infrastructure Stream (CCRIS) of the Investing in Canada Plan
- The provincial government will provide over $980,000 to the new Windsor Centre for Film, Digital Media and the Creative Arts.
- The centre itself will contribute more than $790,000 to the project
The renovation will take place inside the Downtown Mission building located in the 600 block of Victoria Avenue. The former church structure was recently purchased for $900,000.
"The Media Arts Community Centre has been in the planning stages for several years. It started with Film Camp for Kids and Youth, which is an educational program for children and teens. The goal was to build local talent at a young age and then retain them locally so they would not have to go to larger urban areas to find employment."
Media Arts Centre's President | Amanda Gellman
Local Member of Parliament, Irek Kusmierczyk stated that investing in community, culture and recreational infrastructure is essential to creating inclusive communities.
"The new Centre for Film, Digital Media and the Creative Arts will contribute to the city of Windsor's culture and diversity while offering more education and recreation opportunities for residents."
Member of Parliament | Irek Kusmierczyk
The new centre will be for persons of all ages and abilities and will include:
- Opportunities for film and art workshops
- Continued education
- Networking
- Co-op
- Job training
- Content creation
- Music and film production
The centre will provide more space for accessible, community-based and comprehensive media arts programming for residents of all ages in Windsor-Essex, Chatham-Kent and Sarnia-Lambton.
According to Newswire, Ontario is investing $10.2 billion under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program to improve public transit; community, culture and recreation; green, and rural and northern community and other priority infrastructure.
