Tag: Culture

Sidbrook, Brookside and 93 Albert

John Draper

There are now at least three Heritage buildings in Cobourg which their owners may be trying to demolish by neglect although hopefully the owners of Brookside (the Province) will move quickly to dispel this possibility.  In a letter to Council, Keith Oliver raises the issue – details below.  Separately, at Monday’s Council meeting, Councillor Adam Bureau gives notice of a motion to ask the Province to use Brookside as a winter homeless shelter.  If that happened, then at least minimum maintenance would be done on Brookside.  If the Province is slow to act and heat is not provided, then it could quickly get to a similar state as Sidbrook – see video below. But it seems to me that the… Read complete articleSidbrook, Brookside and 93 Albert

Council Divided on Demolition of 93 Albert

John Draper

At the Committee of the Whole (CoW) Council meeting on December 6, Council were asked to support a Cobourg Heritage Advisory Committee (CHAC) recommendation to deny permission to approve demolition of the building at 93 Albert Street (see report in Links below).  But before a vote was taken, Councillor Darling moved to refer the decision to the CoW meeting on January 3 so that there would be more time to study the issue.  At that meeting (Monday night), the Chair of the CHAC (Graham Andrews) and Vice Chair (Ken Bagshaw) spoke out strongly as to why they wanted to deny permission contrary to a Staff recommendation and then Council debated if they should accept the recommendation of Heritage /Planning Staff… Read complete articleCouncil Divided on Demolition of 93 Albert

Cultural Master Plan Buried

John Draper

Whatever happened to the idea that Cobourg should encourage Culture – you know, visual and performing arts? In 2019 a consultant delivered a Cultural Master Plan to Council (see resources below) but it’s now buried – no direct link anywhere on the Town’s web site. When Dean Hustwick was hired in 2016, his title was Director of Parks and Recreation with the idea that his mandate would include Culture and Tourism. That Department is now called Community Services but Culture is not mentioned. The Strategic planning update in early 2021 downgraded the goal labelled “Consider Arts, Culture and Tourism Division” and the only time culture is mentioned is when citizens make a presentation to Council. If there are any Town… Read complete articleCultural Master Plan Buried

Cobourg Entertainment Coming Alive

John Draper

So far there have been no cases of the Omicron Covid19 variant reported in Northumberland and many people are responding to the Entertainment scene opening up in Cobourg in time for Christmas. After a missing a year of many Christmas events, it’s time to enjoy those that are being held. There’s a list below with details on how to get information but the first one is of course tomorrow’s Santa Parade at 6:00 pm. The weather may not be the best so I may join others and just watch it on TV (Cogeco Cable Ch. 700) but there is a long list of indoor events over the next couple of weeks. The Concert Hall at Victoria Hall re-opened November first… Read complete articleCobourg Entertainment Coming Alive

Council Decides on Community Grants for 2022

John Draper

Today, Council started their line-by-line review of the 2022 budget but one relatively small item gets a lot of attention.  The maximum for Community Grants for 2022 was somewhat arbitrarily set at a total of $30k but applications totaled $92K so a lot of pruning was needed.  Before the meeting, Deputy Mayor Suzanne Séguin and Councillor Adam Bureau worked together to do the pruning and their recommendations totaled $29,544. Many of the “grants” were in fact “in kind” – that is, no cash would be changing hands but instead fees normally charged by the Town would be waived.  The two main examples were fees to rent the Concert Hall and parking fees around Victoria Park, primarily for members of the… Read complete articleCouncil Decides on Community Grants for 2022

Expanded Museum in Dressler House

John Draper

Friday saw the grand opening of the new/expanded Museum in Dressler House – it’s now called the Canadian Women in Film Museum and as well as Marie Dressler, features early Canadian women movie stars Mary Pickford and Norma Shearer.  It was conducted on Zoom and featured speeches by Minister David Piccini, Mayor John Henderson, MP Philip Lawrence, Cara Krmpotich Associate Professor of Museum Studies at U of T, Cari Beauchamp of the Mary Pickford Foundation and Darin Barnes collector and Curator for Norma Shearer.  In the audience were other supporters and people like Michelle Wright (more below) who were involved with project.  The Design of the Museum, was done by students of Museum Studies at the University of Toronto –… Read complete articleExpanded Museum in Dressler House

Cobourg’s Santa Parade will now be at Night

John Draper

If you have been following other Cobourg News Sources, you’ll already know that at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, Council decided to stage a Santa Parade this year after all.  But it will be quite different from other years.  The reason for the change from the earlier decision (which was to cancel and instead have Santa Tour the Town), was because MPP Piccini told the Mayor that the Province would announce today (Wednesday) that all crowd size limits would be lifted for both Remembrance Day and Santa Parades.  The Province’s announcement has not yet come so details such as the exact route have also not yet been announced.  But the date is different – it will be on December… Read complete articleCobourg’s Santa Parade will now be at Night

Big Changes at Cobourg Legion Pipes and Drums

John Draper

In April 2018, the Cobourg Legion Pipes and Drums partnered with Cobourg Police so they effectively have two roles, two names and two tartans – see link below for article explaining this.  They have been a “fixture” in Cobourg for 50 years – originally with founding Pipe Major George Lovett and more recently with Mary Ito as Pipe Major.  She was Pipe Major for 12 years but has now retired and there are a number of other changes with the band.  Their Communication Officer, Ian McFarlane, calls it a new era.  The Town supports the Cobourg Concert Band but not the Pipes and Drums – they have left that to the Police to support. This year the Highland Games were held… Read complete articleBig Changes at Cobourg Legion Pipes and Drums

AGN Leads Project to Decorate Garbage Cans

John Draper

In September 2018 Wally Keeler teamed with Lydia Smith to ask Council to fix the eyesores of ugly garbage cans around town (see link below).  The Parks and Recreation committee agreed with them  and in June 2019 Council passed a resolution to implement a “Trash to Treasures Pilot Program” and add it to the 2020 budget.  This did not happen and also did not happen in the 2021 budget – it’s currently listed in the 2021 operating budget as a special project in 2022/2023 with an estimated amount of $2000.  But all is not lost.  The Art Gallery of Northumberland has taken it on as an Education project for the Youth Council.  They plan to beautify 25 metal garbage cans… Read complete articleAGN Leads Project to Decorate Garbage Cans

Capitol Theatre re-opening

John Draper

By some measures, we are “getting back to normal” – the beach is open, Rainbow Cinema and the Loft are operating with a “normal” program albeit with limited capacity, and the CCC is gradually opening up. Last year, all entertainment events at Victoria Hall and the Capitol were cancelled but now the Capitol is opening up – will Victoria Hall be next?  The Capitol started with a live show “The Importance of being Earnest” and is hosting the long running Vintage Film Festival this coming weekend. There are safety plans in place which follow Provincial guidelines and these include a requirement that all patrons are fully vaccinated.  The program this year consists of films that are “based on a true story” such… Read complete articleCapitol Theatre re-opening