Rosemary Hale, dean of Humanities, published the editorial “Arts centre is about the partnership” in the Jan. 16 issue of the St. Catharines Standard. An excerpt:

“Much has been said about the arts complex planned for downtown St. Catharines, but the word that defines it best is “partnership.”

This project by the City of St. Catharines and Brock University — part fine and performing arts school, part civic arts centre — is striking not just for the array of benefits it will deliver to the community, but for the clearheaded vision that has taken it from dreamy concept to the brink of reality.

Most people, including Ontario government officials, recognize that the complex represents an unprecedented opportunity to revive Niagara’s largest urban core, to create a prosperous hub for the arts and culture industry and to help push our postindustrial region further toward a knowledge-based economy.

None of this could happen without partnership, because neither the city nor the university alone could ever keep such a project viable once the construction grants stopped flowing. Marrying strengths and goals together for mutual gain is what makes this idea work, and what will build a complex we can all be proud of.”

The dean was also interviewed for the article “Arts project remains on hold,” as was President Jack Lightstone.