Federal government gives $19M to Thunder Bay Art Gallery's move to waterfront

The Thunder Bay Art Gallery is moving ahead with the construction of a new building on the city's waterfront thanks to the federal government.

Infrastructure Canada on Thursday announced it was contributing $19.6 million to the project, which brings total funding to more than $48 million.

That means construction of the new building can move ahead, with a planned opening in 2025.

Sharon Godwin, the art gallery's executive director, said this project to move the gallery to the waterfront is about more than just a new building.

"It's really about the engagement of people when they're inside the building, what they learn, connecting them with the artists and the art that we show," she said.

The new money also gives the gallery the opportunity to make the new building net carbon neutral, Godwin said, something that will add to the total cost of construction.

"And to be totally honest. COVID has really affected the budget because ... none of us will really know the cost of building materials as we move ahead. The market is so volatile right now that, you know, the budget, once we go to tender, will be closer. But we're going to have to watch the budget very carefully, which we will do."

The move to the waterfront has been in the works for years, and the original goal was to have the new building open in 2019 or 2020.

However, the project was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a requirement to do a site study, which was triggered by a zoning change in 2017, Godwin said. That study was completed in 2020, the art gallery said in a media release.

But, she said, the art gallery is ready to move forward now.

"We've actually pre-qualified our contractors already," she said. "We had done that quite a while ago, so we're just looking at how we will actually procure because there's different ways of doing that and because the markets are volatile, we're investigating what might be best for the project."

The $19.6 million announced Thursday isn't the only federal money going into the project: the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund had earlier committed $12.6 million, and FedNor $3.5 million.

In addition, the Northern Ontario Heritage Corporation is contributing $5.7 million, the City of Thunder Bay $5.7 million, and the community has contributed $2.7 million to date.

However, Godwin said more fundraising will still need to take place.