To Vancouver City Council.
Today is Monday, June 8th, 2026.
We're going to discuss the Arts
Hub with Mr. Perlick and Kevin
Keirns. City manager. Did you
have anything you wanted to add
to this?
>> No, mayor, we can go right
into the presentation.
>> Okay.
>> Well good afternoon. My name
is David Perlick. I'm director
of parks, recreation and
Cultural services for the city.
We're excited today to be with
you and provide an update on a
variety of things going on with
the Vancouver Arts Hub. I'd
like to invite Kevin.
>> Thank you Dave. And I'm
Kevin Keirns, project manager
for the Capital Projects
Division of the General
Services Department. Excited to
be here. Thank you.
>> So I think today is an
effort to give you a holistic
look at a number of things that
are occurring to support the
current and future success of
the Arts Hub. And so this will
include a quick summary of how
we got to this point. Also some
highlights for the very
successful initial activation
effort that's ongoing. An
overview of what we're doing to
take care of the building in
the short run. And then we'll
spend most of our time talking
about the work going on to help
refine long term plans for the
facility. So let's launch in.
So here's a bit of a timeline.
The dots are sort of in the
right place, but we just wanted
to really emphasize that this
has been a long term community
conversation. And we've heard
about the need for dedicated
art space for a long time. I
think this was solidified as a
community priority in the
culture, arts and heritage plan
that was adopted by the City
Council in 2018. One of three
major focus areas of this plan
was dedicated space for arts
and culture in Vancouver. We
found out in 2022 that the
former community library
building would become available
for transfer to the city
earlier than expected, through
some unfortunate events that
occurred, but this allowed us
to begin planning for how to
use this well-loved community
asset. And with a new focus, we
went through a reuse study in
the City Council endorsed
recommendations from that study
in 2023. It contemplated the
former community library as a
arts hub for Vancouver. This
process included evaluation of
the building that showed it's
in relatively good shape, but
is a building its age. It does
need some repair and renovation.
With the right investments, it
can become an important
catalyst for the Vancouver arts
ecosystem. I wanted to talk a
little bit more about facility
improvements. That study helped
us prioritize what's most
critical to preserve the
building in the short run. In
response, we are currently
underway replacing the roof
right now. Don't worry,
weatherization portion has been
completed and we're finishing
up that work. And there's also
upgrades to some of the Hvac
elements, things that needed to
happen in the short run. Let's
take care of the asset while
we're planning what to do with
it in the longer run. So we're
excited today to provide an
overview of the next phase in
the planning work that will
help us imagine how a renovated
arts hub can create an even
greater impact in the future. I
think today is really about the
process where we've been, what
we're doing, the scope of the
work, as you'll see as we move
forward, recommendations are
coming forward later this
summer, but we wanted to get
you oriented to what's going on
and let the community know
about the process. So moving
forward, we wanted to talk
about the important initial
activation. With the completion
of the reuse study, the city
has worked with community
partners to begin using the
building, the, you know,
culture, Arts and heritage plan
said, we need space and we have
space. So the, the, the
approach is, let's use it while
we're doing the long term
planning as well. So through a
competitive process, the Arts
Center was selected as a key
partner to lead the initial
activation. This began in early
2024. There are a number of
benefits to this activation.
Again, first and foremost, the
city is making a meaningful
impact by providing space that
meets existing needs. A variety
of groups and individuals are
using the space, experiencing
events, making connections.
There's more in a minute about
initial activation, but I think
the key is let's do this now
and let's let's bring the
community in. And with that
process, the activation
provides critical information
about long term facility
planning process. We're
learning more about what works,
what people want, the real
details about planning for
space through real experience.
And that's really critical to
this project. And we're also
seeing that the activation is
increased community
understanding and support for
the project. You know, as you
know, it's so important that we
have well-informed community
feedback that really helps us
shape the project moving
forward. And so that's been an
amazing opportunity. Throughout
this presentation, you'll see
photos of groups that are
currently using the arts hub
and benefiting from that
initial activation. And so a
little bit more about the
initial activation. This has
been really successful and
continues to grow. In 2020,
five, over 60 groups used the
building, which resulted in
over 2000 hours of program use.
This was in addition to monthly
First Friday events that
welcomed the community and made
connections to culture and arts
groups, and there are a variety
of other public events,
speakers, markets, etc. and the
activation has grown steadily.
More groups today in 2026
continue to sign up and use the
space. The work that Art center
has done in managing activation
has focused on supporting a
diversity of needs and
minimizing barriers. That
diversity is represented across
a variety of cultural
expressions. Art forms, the
size and types of the groups
ages of participation,
participants ability to pay,
and others. The activation is
building trust through the
community and strengthening
relationships. Having a real
community benefit today. Again,
this sets us up for an informed
future planning process with
strong partners that are
definitely going to be critical
to growth. We only wish we had
more amenities, more strategic
spaces, higher occupancy, and
the list goes on. And that
really leads into the next
phase of how do we how do we
grow this amazing opportunity?
And what are the, what are the
priorities that are needed? So
with that, I'd like to hand it
over to Kevin.
>> Oh, awesome. Thank you. Dave.
With the initial activation
confirming the, the potential
of the building, the city began
the search for a team to help
us develop the next steps for a
permanent arts hub. We released
an RFQ last year and we got a
phenomenal amount of interest,
and we got three great
proposals. The review panel
selected a team led by Opsis
Architecture. The team includes
AMS planning, and they're doing
the business and operational
planning work as well as
frameworks is also on the team,
and they're doing the
stakeholder and community
outreach. The city has
contracted for the first two
steps of this process of the
redevelopment process, and that
that first task is outreach and
analysis, sort of reaching out
to the community, finding out
better about their needs, and
analyzing the financial details
of how something like this can
operate. And this is really to
inform the second task, which
is to develop a master plan for
how we're going to develop this
building, but also a business
plan and sort of the, the
phased implementation of both.
And as part of that, that first
phase, that first stage, that
that task includes community
engagement and research, as
well as the business and
operational analysis for the
community engagement. The team
is reviewing the and confirming
those earlier studies. There
have been a lot of them, as
well as undertaking sort of an
expanded community outreach
that includes the current users
of the interim activation, as
well as targeted outreach to
the community. Using the
research and community input,
the team will develop the
operating plan for the arts hub
and build a budget forecast for
its operations. And. As the
community engagement strategy.
This includes interviews,
targeted focus groups, open
houses, as well as tabling and
intercepts at community events.
The team has already
interviewed a wide range of
folks, including almost
everyone who is part of the
current activation, and we've
held four focus groups, and we
began the open houses at the
last Friday at the first Friday.
And we've also begun the
tabling, and this was at the
farmers market on Saturday. And
with that, though, it's still
early in the process, we do
have some early findings that
Dave will share.
>> Yeah, I think that community
voice is so important. So I'd
like to take a minute to talk
about what we're hearing.
There's been a really strong
alignment in the feedback, and
I think that's all part of
having the space in use and
people experiencing it, and
really having an ability to
think about what it can be.
We've highlighted some of those
key themes that we're hearing
throughout the the stakeholder
feedback, affordability, fees
and rental rates are mentioned
by almost every group we talked
to. And people recognize that
we need to balance revenue
goals with a focus on ensuring
that a wide variety of groups,
small and emerging groups, are
still able to use the space and
grow their accessible and
equitable interview.
Interviewee stress the need to
improve physical access and
grow an environment that is
welcoming to the entire
community, particularly to
traditionally underserved
groups. Creating flexible
spaces. Again, very common
theme interviewees really
expressed a preference for
spaces that can be flexible and
easily reconfigured over
dedicated, purpose built spaces.
They really recognize that so
many things can occur there.
Let's plan for a variety, and
let's make sure that the arts
hub can change and grow and
adapt to the opportunities that
exist. Integration into the
existing arts ecosystem
interview interviewees also
regularly raise the need for
the arts hub to carefully
consider where to fit in.
Understanding that there's a
lot of exciting and successful
things going on, how to fill
the gaps and promote the
success that's already
occurring in Vancouver. And
then BABA public gathering
space. The arts hub should
prioritize activation through
public access and interaction.
People mentioned continuation
and growth of many of the
events and exhibitions that are
happening now, that bring
people in, that create new
connections that get people
involved. I also wanted to
share a couple more comments
from the engagement process to
date, since we have a few
minutes, and I think these
examples show that in addition
to the specific project
feedback we're seeking, we're
also gaining an understanding
of the impact of the arts hub
and developing really a better
understanding of opportunities
for continued collaboration.
During a focus group with
downtown arts focused
businesses, we heard specific
feedback on how the arts hub
can fill a a role that is
complementary to what's going
on and serve as a resource for
these businesses, helping fill
gaps for certain types of
activities and public spaces.
And we're incorporating that in
the planning effort. But we
also heard that people simply
appreciated the opportunity to
meet with other arts business
owners and share experiences
and find new opportunities for
collaboration. We are we will
maintain that dialog through
the arts hub planning process,
and really need to plan for
ways to continue it beyond this
planning project as well. In
talking to groups that have
been using the arts hub during
initial activation, we heard
ideas about the building use
and design opportunities.
Another theme we're hearing
from these groups is that the
arts hub has allowed their
organizations to grow and
become stronger with consistent,
affordable access to space.
Like the arts Hub, they can
pursue their mission more
effectively and at a greater
scale than they had been able
to previously. Really, it's
we've already seen that
catalytic nature of the arts
hub. And so again, we want to
continue that collaboration,
continue the communication and
continue to discover and learn
how that process can continue
to grow into the future. This
feedback is critical as we
formulate strategies. And again,
it's near-term planning project,
but it's long term as well.
>> Awesome. And you can see how
this feedback can lead directly
to some design. And that's kind
of what the team is doing now.
They're sort of taking that
task one, which was reaching
out to the community, listening
to feedback and figuring out
how to turn that into
strategies for the
implementation of both the
renovation of the building,
strategic renovation, as well
as the development of the
business plan and its
implementation, long term
understanding that each are
multiphase processes. What you
have on the slide here is a
simplified project schedule
starting in April with the
kickoff and ending with the end
of this phase of the project in
September. As I mentioned in
parallel with that, phase one
is phase two. And what we're
trying to to make sure that
we're doing is, is here kicking
off the process with you to
hear your feedback and give
bring you up to speed on where
we are in the project. And you
can see at the end in August,
we'll be coming back to you
again with the draft report,
with the intent of being able
to incorporate your feedback in
the final report in September.
And that's in time, hopefully,
to be a meaningful part of the
conversation for the biennial
budget. And between now and
August, when we come again,
we're going to continue the
community outreach, and we'll
be developing that business
plan and the continue to work
on the the building and site
master plan. Much of the
upcoming community engagement
is going to be the open houses
and those at the tabling, at
the big community events. And
we've already had, as I
mentioned, the first open house
will be having other open
houses at the Arts Hub in July
and August. Also on those First
Fridays. And we don't have the
full schedule for our tabling.
But as I mentioned, we've
already started and will be
continuing this throughout the
summer. And those not on the
schedule, even as the
consultants work on their
scopes of work. Of course, the
activation continues at Arts
Hub, and there's a real dialog
between that team and the team
that's working and operating
the arts hub to make sure that
there is a dynamic feedback so
that we can benefit from the
experience of operating the
arts hub.
>> And really, here's here's a
list of next steps. It really
reinforces what Kevin just said.
So I don't need to to really go
into a lot of detail. But again,
we're continuing that community
engagement process to inform
the consultants work. Again, we
want to inform biennial budget
request. And as stated, we're
developing a draft
recommendation that comes back
to City Council. We'll review
that with the culture, Arts and
Heritage Commission as well
before that meeting, and hope
to have a final report in the
fall to really guide next steps
in the project. So with that,
we are here for discussion.
>> Councilors. Councilor Perez.
Go ahead.
>> Thank you. I'm thinking
about third spaces and how that
relates to this arts hub. And
if that is part of the vision
as well, especially when you
talk about affordability and
gathering places for community,
that's essentially third spaces,
which first place is home and
second place is at work. And so
this third place is just a
place to be and experience and
feel like you belong there. Is
that the vision that's being
put in here, and would that be
programed in, especially as you
look into operational funding
and how that can be sustainable?
>> Yeah. Would you like I'll
take I'll take a first shot at
that. I think I'll say this
probably several times. We're
not yet at the point of
recommendations, but I really I
do really appreciate the
question. And it is definitely
part of, of the planning
process. And in fact, Friday
night we were gathering
feedback from folks and, you
know, a cafe or a place to, to
be as part of one of those
spaces that we're trying to
gather feedback from the
community on. So we're thinking
about that, and we know that
the building can serve that
purpose, either through planned
and intended events that are
open to the public or just
having space available for
people. We don't know what the
exact mix will be, but it is on
the list, so to speak.
>> Yeah. And I think just to
add, is one of those questions
that we have been going to the
public with is what kinds of
spaces are you looking for? And
it's come up pretty
consistently that people really
want the ones that are actually
not programed, that come up
much higher than I expected,
the lobby, the cafes, and it
just sort of shows a demand for
what you're speaking of. But
the Dave's point is that we're
not ready for with a
recommendation from our team.
But, but we have been hearing
that feedback and that feedback
will be going into the design
process.
>> Great. I look forward to
hearing more about it. Thank
you.
>> Councilor Sarah Fox.
>> Okay, one of the slides that
I had some questions on was
slide six, and it was just the
project team slide. And I guess
my question is, I listened to
your presentation today and
still kind of thinking on it is,
it feels like there's a missing
team member there and maybe
it's not, but it feels like we
might be missing kind of a
group that is actually very
much involved with these type
of facilities. You know, being
a national leader or, or a
group of similar minded
facilities across the United
States. So it feels like we're
missing the maybe the future
users of the building versus
just looking at what the
community right now is
interested in it, if that makes
sense.
>> Yeah, I think it does. Thank
you for bringing that up. The
the team, this is the shorthand
of the team. There's actually
other members that aren't here.
You can imagine there's
engineers and others as well as
people who do represent some of
what you're speaking of. So
this team includes the folks
that have been involved with
Multnomah Arts Center and that
group, and that person who is
consulting with this team is on
the board of kind of the
Association of Art centers. And
so we hope that both will get
the feedback from him on day to
day operations to help us just
make sure that we're benefiting
from the experience of of the
Multnomah Arts Center, which
has been operating by the city
of Portland for. I did know the
dates, but it's at least 30
years. And so getting the
benefit of that, as well as his
association with the
association and, and I've also
joined that association and
been going to the meetings just
to make sure that I can benefit
and learn from what's happening
in the field. There's a lot of
disruption happening in the
field, is the short answer, but
we're trying to understand the
patterns of that disruption.
>> Okay. All right. Thank you.
>> Any other comments,
Councilor Stover?
>> Thank you. Mayor. Council
member. Stover. I'm I'm just
excited that we're moving.
Right. I've been worried that
this project was getting lost
through this, through all the
things happening in the city.
It's an extremely important it
it will in some form be that
third space. You know, we don't
know what that form will be.
But but it we want this. I want
this to be a place where the
entire community feels
comfortable to come and explore,
not just sit back and watch,
but really can put their hands
in and, and make a difference
here. So I'm excited for this
next step and this summer and
seeing where we're going next.
Thank you.
>> Yes councilor Erik Paulsen.
>> Thank you mayor. Thanks for
the presentation. I share the
enthusiasm of my colleagues. I
wonder if you could go to slide
number nine. Thank you. I want
to underscore the point that
the mayor pro tem made earlier
about the opportunity that we
have to integrate these two
concepts, because oftentimes
design and operation are
separate. And we have one group
of individuals, typically
architects, who like to build
shiny things and they go and
they make cool things. And then
the operators aren't
necessarily included in that
dialog. And then when it comes
time to operate the shiny thing,
it doesn't really work the way
the architects intended for it
to work. And history is filled
with buildings, right?
Including the Portland building
that looks cool, but doesn't
really work that well. And so I
think I really want to
underscore that point that the
mayor pro tem made about
getting the operator and the
users involved all throughout,
so that what we design works.
And then if you go to slide
number eight, please, you know,
we started a conversation about
this and then we pushed the
pause button. And in the
interim, we've activated this
space and we've learned a ton
through that activation. But a
lot has changed in that time.
And so it's good to go back and
revisit that work. But I hope
that we're not anchoring too
heavily in that prior work,
because we should be leveraging
more about what we've learned
in the interim. And so some
examples of things that have
changed that I'm aware of prior
feedback, specifically around
performing arts, had centered
around concerns that this would
compete with a potential
additional facility. The work
that has subsequently been done
around performing arts stresses
the importance of having this
complement a potential
performing arts facility. So,
for example, the previous work
said, hey, don't put a black
box in performance space here
because we want to do that over
there. And now we're saying,
actually, a black box isn't
going to work over here. We
need it over there. Right. And
so those are a couple of really
specific examples of the kinds
of things that have changed at
a very tactical level since we
began this conversation until
now. And I think it's really
important that we incorporate,
you know, those updated views
of the ecosystem, if you will,
into this conversation. So that,
again, we aren't anchored in
some of the prior input that
had been given. You know, I
think flexibility is really
important, and I'm glad to see
it here. You know, the previous
vision was really anchored
around makerspace and really
structured spaces that were not
at all flexible. And so, you
know, and what we've learned
through this interim activation
is that having essentially a
wide open floor plan offers
tremendous flexibility, and
that has shown its advantages.
And we also have a second floor
that's basically not being
utilized at all. That could be
used in lots of different ways
as well. And so really
leveraging that learning and
emphasizing that flexibility
because, you know, a couple of
things come to mind. Number one,
we've learned that flexibility
in the present time has
advantages, but we've also
learned that just in a few
short years, our view of how
this facility needs to work and
what the uses are has changed a
lot, and it will continue to
change. And so having that
flexibility, I think, is super
important. And then the last
thing I want to say is around
affordability. And so I've
thought about this idea of
affordability, and I've thought
a lot about how artists tend to
be innovators in space making.
And here's what I mean by that.
If you look around major urban
areas, there oftentimes is
underutilized space. And this
is an example of that. And what
happens is either on a
sanctioned or unsanctioned
basis, artists occupy those
spaces, and in doing so, they
make that formerly downtrodden,
sort of unattractive place, a
very vibrant and attractive
place, which subsequently then
attracts other uses, ultimately
displacing the artists. Rinse,
repeat. And so this idea of
affordability is really
important because we have an
existing ecosystem, we've built
relationships and trust with a
community, and we need to
maintain and build upon that
community rather than build
something that's shiny, that's
no longer accessible to the
folks who have built it. And so
I really want to underscore
that importance of
affordability. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Councilor Hanson.
>> Thank you, mayor Council
member Bart Hanson. I really
like the the idea of having a
cafe in there as well and
reaching out to the youth in
the community. When you look at
our Firstenburg or our Marchel
or our recreation that we have
there, that's really opening up
the door to sports and but it's
not adding a third sort of
recreational for the youth in
our community as well. So I
would like to see that sort of
idea develop as well. I think
you're on the right track.
>> Okay. Any other council?
Okay. Well, Dave, in looking at
that last photo, it says
Operation Center for the Fort
Vancouver Regional Library
District. It's time to take
those letters down or put up a
banner over the top of that.
We're excited about the change
that is happening. We're
looking forward to an update.
Thank you so very much,
councilors. We are done with
our afternoon workshop. We will
head over and grab a quick bite
of dinner. We'll be back at 630
for our regular council meeting.
Thank you.