Vancouver Art Gallery step closer to finding new home

A staff report released Apr. 17, 2013, supports a new Vancouver Art Gallery location at 688 Cambie Street.

The Vancouver Art Gallery is one step closer to finding a new home, provided they can come up with millions of dollars in the next two years.

A city staff report released Wednesday throws support behind a new location at 688 Cambie Street near Georgia Street.

The report says the city will hand over the 1.8 acres of Larwill Park on a 99-year lease, provided the gallery can come up with 75 per cent of the project’s capital totaling $300 million.

The site is the former home to the Greyhound bus depot and is currently operating as a parking lot.

Only a fraction of the permanent collection can be displayed at the current Robson Street location, and there is not enough room for storage. The new location would double the current size.

“We now have the opportunity to build a new visual arts museum that will allow us to increase our support of the internationally recognized artists who live here in Vancouver as well as the emerging talent that is coming out of our art schools today,” said Gallery director Kathleen Bartels in a release.

The proposal goes to city council for the vote next week.

More to come…

With files by CTV British Columbia’s Nafeesa Karim