Articles tagged with: canada hair cloth building

Acclaim keeps coming for design of Marilyn I. Walker School

Wednesday, November 30, 2016 | By Brock University

(Source: The Brock News, Wednesday, November 30, 2016 | by Kevin Cavanagh)

An American design journal is the latest admirer to bestow an architecture award on Brock University’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts in downtown St. Catharines.

Designed by world-renowned Diamond Schmitt Architects, the Walker School’s striking blend of new construction and restored 19th-century industrial buildings has been turning heads and spurring acclaim — from juries and from area residents — since the $45-million complex opened just over a year ago.

Last month the Walker School project won a national Cornerstone Award from the National Trust for Canada, which recognizes extraordinary restoration projects. Earlier in the year it received the Niagara Community Design Award in the adaptive re-use category.

Now the Walker School has received a silver medal in the 2016 Reconstruction Awards from Building Design and Construction Magazine. For more than three decades, the Chicago-based magazine has given annual awards to honour leading North American projects in terms of renovation, adaptive re-use and preservation work.

The challenging Walker School project included the restoration of an old textile mill into a beautifully repurposed complex of teaching and learning spaces for disciplines from fine art to photography, music and dramatic arts.

“The five-story brick-and-beam structure is an adaptive reuse of the Canada Hair Cloth Building, where coat linings and parachute silks were once made,” states the magazine’s announcement. “Diamond Schmitt Architects led the repurposing of the original 1888 structure and the design of a 35,000-sf addition that supports a new 280-seat studio theatre.

“The project consolidates the university’s fine and performing arts facilities in a single downtown location for 500 students. All work had to meet the university’s strict Facility Accessibility Design Standards. A former raceway water channel for the looms was preserved as a pedestrian path. The contractor (the aptly named Bird Construction) even made sure not to disturb the chimney swifts that were nesting in the old factory.”

The Walker School shares the silver designation with other marquee projects including Lovejoy Wharf in Boston, the Bay Area Metro Center in San Francisco and the structural refitting of New York’s famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Tags: 15 artists' common, 2016 Reconstruction Awards, Building Design and Construction Magazine, canada hair cloth building, Diamond Schmitt Architects, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, silver medal
Categories: In the Media, News
Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts wins National Trust Award

Wednesday, November 09, 2016 | By Brock University

The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts was honoured with one of five National Trust for Canada national Cornerstone Awards for building restoration! Read more about it at Niagara This Week.

Excerpt:

The National Trust noted the Marilyn I. Walker centre’s transformation of the old hair cloth factory dating back to 1888 — along with a 35,000 square-foot addition — is a “key element” of the broader downtown revitalization plan and was done while retaining many elements of the historic building’s interior such as wooden floor beams, metal columns and stone and masonry walls.

Scott Roper, project manager for Brock, said in the university’s Brock Press publication that Brock had “utter success” in creating a stand-out academic entity while being a trigger for the social, economic and urban revitalization of downtown St. Catharines.

“While Brock has constructed several substantial buildings over the past two decades, the creation of the Marilyn Walker School represented a bold step into the downtown, integration with the surrounding community, and into the unfamiliar area of adaptive re-use,” Roper said.

Tags: 15 artists' common, building restoration, canada hair cloth building, Cornerstone Award, downtown revitalization, downtown St. Catharines, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, miwsfpa, National Trust Award, National Trust for Canada, Niagara This Week
Categories: In the Media
MIWSFPA honoured with heritage award

Monday, October 24, 2016 | By Brock University

(Source: The Brock News, Monday, October 24, 2016. Photo caption: The former Canada Hair Cloth Building in downtown St. Catharines has been transformed into the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts – a building blending old with new.)

Brock University’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts has received the National Trust for Canada’s 2016 Ecclesiastical Insurance Cornerstone Award for Building Heritage.

The independent awards jury was unanimous in its decision to honour the project.

“While Brock has constructed several substantial buildings over the past two decades, the creation of the Marilyn Walker School represented a bold step into the downtown, integration with the surrounding community, and into the unfamiliar area of adaptive re-use,” said Project Manager Scott Roper. “Brock met utter success in creating a stand-out academic entity as well as being the trigger for the social, economic and urban revitalization of downtown St. Catharines.”

He said the National Trust’s recognition confirms that Brock’s initiative improves quality of life and contributes to our collective national identity.

Established in 2013 with the sponsorship of Ecclesiastical Insurance, the award honours exemplary commercial, institutional or mixed use projects to recognize the people who have contributed to the successful regeneration of heritage buildings and sites.

The MIWSFPA was completed in 2015, a $45.5-million redevelopment of the former Canada Hair Cloth Building, an iconic structure in downtown St. Catharines which has been transformed and expanded to include a 35,000-square-foot addition.

The facility is the result of nearly a decade of hard work and commitment from hundreds of people.

The awards ceremony took take place Friday, Oct. 21 in Hamilton.

Tags: 15 artists' common, Building Heritage, canada hair cloth building, downtown St. Catharines, Ecclesiastical Insurance Cornerstone Award for Building Heritage, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, National Trust for Canada
Categories: In the Media, News
MIWSFPA awarded for its architecture

Saturday, March 05, 2016 | By Brock University

(Source: The Brock News, Wednesday, March 9, 2016 | by Erica Bajer)

Brock University students and staff aren’t the only ones who love the look and feel of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

Niagara Region recognized the school with an Adaptive Re-Use Award during the 2015 Niagara Community Design Awards on Friday.

The MIWSFPA was completed in 2015, a $45.5-million redevelopment of the former Canada Hair Cloth Building, an iconic structure in downtown St. Catharines which has been transformed and expanded to include a 35,000-square-foot addition.

“It is arguably one of the most beautifully designed buildings that captures the heritage of what it once was,” said St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik. “It’s the juxtaposition between the modern and the heritage combined in one footprint.”

The facility is the result of nearly a decade of hard work and commitment from hundreds of people.

“The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts is a legacy project and demonstrates the transformative capacity of imaginative approaches to architecture in the service of post-secondary education,” said MIWSFPA director Derek Knight. “Such commitment is a demonstration of the value the University places in conserving both the fabric of a magisterial 19th-century industrial structure and repurposing it as part of the revitalization of our core city.”

The building wouldn’t have been possible without a $26.1-million investment from the Government of Ontario, and numerous corporate and private donors.

Designed by the renowned Toronto firm Diamond Schmitt Architects and built by Bird Construction, the project was a joint venture with the City of St. Catharines to create a multi-use arts complex to connect the talent of Brock students with the needs of the community. The result is a 95,000-square-foot education facility showcasing the history of the original space combined with modern architecture and learning technology.

University President Jack Lightstone said the MIWSFPA has been a huge hit with students and faculty.

“This amazing downtown school happened because committed and generous people made it happen. As a result, we have all witnessed a dramatic change in our downtown core that is like very few transitions we will ever again see in our lifetimes,” Lightstone said.

“For Brock, it provides another purpose-built facility serving the very specialized needs of the University and for Niagara, it is a landmark of what a university and a city government can achieve in close working partnership.”

The Region said the project was noted for its integration with the community from its name to the linkages with the nearby performing arts centre, as well as creating a new landmark within the city and blending heritage elements with new construction.

The school is named for the late Marilyn I. Walker, a fabric artist, Brock supporter and St. Catharines arts advocate.

“The award reflects the vision of Marilyn I. Walker, Jack Lightstone and Dr. Rosemary Hale,” Sendzik said. “It acts as a catalysit for where we are going as a community.”
He said the blend of old and new celebrates St. Catharines manufacturing history and its future as an arts and culture hub.

“Brock University has made an extraordinary commitment to the next generations of students; not only is this important for sustaining our own community but for the vitality and interest this will generate beyond the Niagara Region,” Knight said.

Tags: 15 artists' common, Adaptive Re-Use Award, architecture, award, canada hair cloth building, miwsfpa, Niagara Community Design Awards
Categories: In the Media, News
New video about the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts released

Tuesday, December 01, 2015 | By Brock University

See this introduction to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts at Brock University in St. Catharines ON, with scenes from the events of the official opening of the new facility on September 18, 2015.

Tags: 15 artists' common, canada hair cloth building, downtown revitalization, downtown St. Catharines, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, video
Categories: In the Media, News
St. Catharines celebrates opening of ‘transformative’ downtown arts school

Monday, September 21, 2015 | By Brock University

Brock University ambassadors provided a tour of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts following the grand opening proceedings.

(Source: Niagara This Week, September 21, 2015 | By Mike Zettel)

ST. CATHARINES – There was excitement in the air Friday in front of the former Canada Hair Cloth building as hundreds gathered under and around a large tent to celebrate a new purpose for the 19th century textile factory.

The culmination of a work begun more than eight years ago, Brock University and the City of St. Catharines officially opened the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. The building, which, skillfully designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, incorporates much of the former factory, including its brick, wooden and steel beams and large windows, while adding state-of-the-art elements.

It houses the dramatic arts, music, and visual arts departments, as well as the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture. In all, 50 full-time faculty members, part-time instructors and staff will join about 500 students in the $45.5-million facility.

Brock president Jack Lightstone traced the path leading to last week’s opening, saying it began with a vision by former chancellor Ray Moriyama and former dean of humanities Rosemary Hale, who say the potential for the old industrial site located right in the heart of the downtown.

The school complements the soon opening FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, with students going back and forth between the two adjacent facilities.

Lightstone said the decision to move downtown was made at Brock under the condition the university would not be making a standalone building but rather one that works within a new vision for the downtown as a hub of arts, culture, entertainment and digital media.

“Right from the very beginning it was conceived we would use each other’s buildings in a symbiotic and dynamic way,” he said.

The beginnings of the project were also accompanied by an inevitable skepticism, Lightstone said, noting he was reminded all too often of the many failed plans for revitalizing the downtown.

Those voices were largely silenced, though, he said, by the generous and “transformative” gift by Norris and Marilyn I. Walker of $15 million to establish the school.

“When they made that commitment, everyone knew we had no choice but to make it happen,” he said, calling it a “catalytic moment.”

MPP Jim Bradley, who Lightstone referred to as the minister of Niagara and Brock, said the school has added to a new feeling of optimism for downtown St. Catharines.

“Today it stands as a testament to our manufacturing past and as an example of our economic renewal and creative spirit in our community,” he said.

Mayor Walter Sendzik noted there were many who made the vision for the school a reality, and he singled out the previous council under former Mayor Brian McMullan for ensuring the building, which had to be expropriated, was available for Brock.

However, he said three people, Lightstone, Hale and Walker, were crucial to its success.

“Take one of those involved out of the equation, and I don’t think we’re standing here today,” he said.

Tags: 15 artists' common, Brian McMullan, canada hair cloth building, downtown revitalization, Jack Lightstone, Jim Bradley, marilyn i. walker, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Mike Zettel, Niagara This Week, Norris Walker, Rosemary Hale, Walter Sendzik
Categories: In the Media, News
GRAND OPENING: The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts at 15 Artists’ Common, Downtown St. Catharines

Monday, September 21, 2015 | By Brock University

The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts and the Department of Dramatic Arts celebrated the grand opening of the new facility on Friday, September 18th, 2015. Hundreds of people from the community were on hand to share the milestone. Below, we’ve collected some videos and news items from that event:

Read the article in the Brock News, complete with short video tours.

See this short report by TVCOGECO Niagara on the occasion of the Grand Opening Ceremony:

See the report “Brock celebrates new school in heart of the city” in the St. Catharines Standard, featuring two short videos about the school and Marilyn I. Walker:

Listen to the report about the new MIWSFPA facility’s grand opening from the The Brock News podcast Episode 1, one in a series of podcasts being produced at the University, showcasing interesting people, research and news. The segment on the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts can be found at cue 1:40 – 3:54. We’ve provided a clip here.

Brock University ambassadors provided a tour of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts following the grand opening proceedings.

Tags: 15 artists' common, canada hair cloth building, downtown revitalization, grand opening, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, media
Categories: In the Media, News
With construction finished, Brock’s new downtown arts school gets ready to educate

Monday, June 01, 2015 | By Brock University

(Source: The Brock News, Monday, June 1, 2015. Photo: Music student Grace Snippe performs during a media tour of the Marilyn I. Walker School for the Fine and Performing Arts on Friday. A videographer from CHCH in Hamilton zooms in.)

On 15 May 2015, after more than two years of construction, a major project in downtown St. Catharines was granted formal occupancy by the city’s building department.

At that moment, the new home of Brock University’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts officially stopped being a building project and began life as a dynamic educational facility.

The keys were handed over, and the University became responsible for everything from security guards to providing Wi-Fi, switching on the lights and cleaning the restrooms.

Brock University President Jack Lightstone calls the MIWSFPA a landmark development for Brock and Niagara.

“For Brock, it provides another purpose-built facility serving the very specialized needs of the school, like the Cairns Complex has done for science and health science,” he said. “For Niagara, it is a landmark in what a university and a city government can achieve in a close working partnership to bring new life and a new economic base to St. Catharines’ downtown core.”

The five-storey school is partly new construction and partly restored heritage buildings, including a 19th-century textile mill. But it’s all state-of-the-art, from the new 235-seat performing arts theatre to its digital media studios, photo darkrooms, instrumental music rooms and any other number of specialized facilities needed to support the development of students within numerous genres of dramatic arts, music and visual arts.

The project was designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, who have been the visionaries behind entertainment complexes in cities from Toronto and Montreal to St. Petersburg, Russia.

“The adaptive re-use of this fine heritage structure is bringing to life innovations in dramatic arts education that demonstrate the value of preserving this building in the revitalization of St. Catharines,” said Michael Leckman, principal, Diamond Schmitt Architects.

The inaugural wave of 500 students won’t arrive for another three months, but from now until September the Walker School will bustle with activity.

Just furnishing an empty 93,700-square-foot complex will take weeks, and once the moving trucks have stopped unloading, faculty and staff members relocating from the Walker School’s current home on the main Brock campus will scramble to get settled and organized for a September they will always remember.

The ambitious $45.5-million project was made possible by a $26.2-million investment from the Ontario government as well as a $15-million transformational gift from local textile artist and philanthropist Marilyn I. Walker.

Walker, who recently got her first tour of the completed project, said she was extremely pleased with the final result.

“It’s a challenge to your imagination to comprehend what all could be done within this building when it comes to educating students,” she said. “It’s not what the physical building means so much as the opportunities it will provide … the possibilities for using these state-of-the art facilities for the benefit of the community.”

Official opening ceremonies are being planned for mid-September, during Brock’s Homecoming Weekend, and University officials are also working on plans for public tours of the landmark facility, probably sometime in the fall.

Tags: 15 artists' common, canada hair cloth building, downtown revitalization, marilyn i. walker, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
Categories: In the Media, News
Almost ready for the big move!

Monday, June 01, 2015 | By Brock University

University architect and project manager Scott Roper leading the tour outside of the Learning Commons of the new facility of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts in downtown St.Catharines.

The four programs of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts — Dramatic Arts, Music, Studies in Arts and Culture, and Visual Arts — are counting down to the big move to the new facility at 198 St. Paul in downtown St. Catharines. The trucks start rolling at the end of this month. To say we are excited would be an understatement!

On May 29, 2015 we invited student and media to join us for a tour of the new facilities. Take a look at these reports from CHCH Television, Cogeco “The Source”, the St. Catharines Standard, and the Brock News.

We also invite you to have a look at the following slide show of photos taken by the Chair of Dramatic Arts, David Vivian:

For more information please contact Marie Balsom.

Tags: 15 artists' common, canada hair cloth building, CHCH Television, Cogeco "The Source", downtown St. Catharines, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, St. Catharines Standard, The Brock News
Categories: Alumni, Future Students, In the Media, News
Our New Home

Sunday, April 05, 2015 | By Nikki Prudden
The future of Niagara starts now with a Home for the Arts

New facilities will soon be opened by the City of St. Catharines and Brock University to serve all of Niagara. This partnership will open a major arts cluster in downtown St. Catharines. The City is constructing the First Ontario Performing Arts Centre at St.Paul and Carlisle Streets. Brock University’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) will move to the adjacent site of the former Canada Hair Cloth factory.
The project is set to revitalize the urban growth centre of Niagara, add a major new cultural attractor to our region and serve artists, students and audience members from across the peninsula. The specialized, purpose-built and professionally managed facility will present, promote and develop the arts in Niagara.

For the most up-to-date information about this exciting project see buildingtheartsdowntown.ca
Also see these site tour pictures: The new Performing Arts Centre and The new MIWSFPA at 198 St. Paul.

Here is a recent slide show of the new facility:

Conceptual Renderings

Elevations of the project under construction for completion in 2015.
Images are sourced from http://www.stcatharines.ca/en/experiencein/DowntownPerformingArtsCentre1.asp
Drawings by Diamond + Schmitt Architects.
UPDATE: City of St. Catharines Performing Arts Centre (PAC): Images presented at the Project Open House, September and October 2011. Future students of the MIWSFPA will be learning and performing in the Recital Hall and the Film/Video Theatre of the PAC. Adjacent to the city-built PAC is the new home of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. Click on a thumbnail to view a larger image.

Drawings by Diamond + Schmitt Architects.
Site and Venues

The Canada Hair Cloth Building is the chosen site for the MIW SFPA, and the St. Catharines Performing Arts Centre is planned for property at the corner of Carlisle and St. Paul Street. Links between the two facilities are part of the conceptual plans.

Five distinct arts discipline-specific performance venues are planned:
- 900-seat concert hall
- 300-seat recital hall (for the MIW SFPA with some community access)
- 300-seat theatre venue (MIW SFPA)
- 250-seat dance/theatre venue
- 200-seat film venue (shared access)
The project also includes new classrooms, studio space and all the additional spaces required for the Music, Theatre and Visual Arts programs at Brock, as well as office space, rehearsal hall, a café and lobby space for the PAC and community arts organizations.

Video Teasers

..not so long ago this was the view into our new facility . . .

A recent tour of the historic Haircloth building in downtown St. Catharines drew a crowd. The building is about to be transformed into the site of Brock’s Fine & Performing Arts programs.

Press

Provincial funding announced for the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts

April 14, 2010 — St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley announced that the Ontario government will provide $26.2 million over four years to help build a new home for the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. The funding is a major breakthrough for the university and the community. The new Marilyn I. Walker School is being built in partnership with the City of St. Catharines, which will build a civic Niagara Centre for the Arts on the other half of the downtown site. This combined project will revitalize and rejuvenate the downtown core through the renovation of heritage buildings and construction of new performance and staging facilities including a dedicated theatre, rehearsal, teaching and research studios. More than 500 full-time students and faculty will relocate to this new facility, freeing up much needed space for other programs at Brock’s main campus in south St. Catharines. (from The Brock News)
Tags: 15 artists' common, canada hair cloth building, downtown revitalization, downtown St. Catharines, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, our new home
Categories: Announcements, News