When the Metchosin Arts & Cultural Centre Association (MACCA) began managing the art centre in 2008, the property had been vacant for quite a while. While the property was still owned by School District 62, all alterations had to be approved by the SD, and most repairs had to be done by school district staff.
After the District of Metchosin purchased the old school, the process of receiving permission to make alterations and improvements became somewhat easier. MACCA had to wait until 2018 to effect the first really noticeable change: removal of the sagging chain-link fence.
Since then, we have
- scraped, repaired and painted much of the outside of the building,
- improved lighting both outside and in,
- painted over the blue interior walls and ceiling with clean white (a better background for displaying art),
- installed picture rails in the hallways,
- torn out stained carpet and installed modern flooring in certain areas,
- added electrical capacity in some spaces,
- replaced the dangerously rotten front staircase with an engineer-approved and much more attractive one …
among many other repairs and improvements.
Most of the income from studio rentals goes back into ongoing maintenance and improvement of this facility. Much of the remainder is spent for day-to-day expenses of running the art centre, but we also fund arts and cultural events both at the art centre and within the municipality of Metchosin. See under Community Supports for further details.