Artists’ society loses bid for avenue closure

By defeating a request to close part of First Avenue, city council has left the Society of Yukon Artists of Native Ancestry (SYANA) looking for a new place to pitch the tent for their first nations arts festival.

By defeating a request to close part of First Avenue, city council has left the Society of Yukon Artists of Native Ancestry (SYANA) looking for a new place to pitch the tent for their first nations arts festival.

“We’re still pretty optimistic,” Sonny Voyageur, director of the society, said in an interview this morning about the inaugural Yukon First Nations Art Festival.

With the Old Fire Hall on First Avenue as the main venue for the June 20-28 festival, the society had asked the city to close off a portion of the road next to the building.

It had wanted to put up a tent planned to serve as a demonstration space and performing arts stage during the festival.

The festival is set to showcase visual and performing arts by first nation members from the various first nations around the territory.

While city council voted Monday night against allowing the road closure, Voyageur said the society’s team met this morning and are starting to look at other options that would still see the tent located on the waterfront.

“If anything, we didn’t take it personally,” he said of council’s vote, noting that the organization will likely continue to work with council as they try to make this year’s festival a success so it can become an annual event.

Coun. Jan Stick was the only council member to vote in favour of the avenue closure in the 5-1 vote against it. (Coun. Dave Stockdale was absent from last night’s meeting.)

“It’s such an exciting and positive event,” Stick said.

“If there was a way we could shorten it for the days that they used it to seven and take that tent up and down in one day rather than extending it longer than necessary, (that) would help mitigate it, but we’ve had the street fair, we’ve had the street festival .... I don’t have a big problem with this one; I think it’s fine.”

While the bylaw manager would have authority to close a portion of a street off for up to seven days, anything longer is a council decision.

Stick also pointed to the support the Main Street Yukon Society offered through a letter for the street closure.

However, other council members argued the additional two days the group was seeking was too long to have a street closed.

Coun. Dave Austin pointed out the avenue’s closure would come during the height of the Edgewater Hotel’s busiest season. The hotel opposed the street closure .

“If they could get it down to seven days, I wouldn’t have any problem with it,” said Coun. Florence Roberts, pointing to the loss of parking spaces and the impact that would have on businesses. “I think there are other sites.”

As the former owner of a barber shop on Main Street, Mayor Bev Buckway argued street closures usually result in a loss of customers.

“Let me tell you: it’s not a boon to business,” she said.

Coun. Jeanine Myhre argued allowing the street closure could set a precedent for those renting the Old Fire Hall, who may then expect to be able to have the artery closed as well.

The vote came after Voyageur and the Yukon Arts Centre’s chief executive officer, Al Cushing, stressed the importance of making the festival a success and the support that’s already there for the event. The arts centre operates the Old Fire Hall.

Although SYANA wanted the tent next door to the Old Fire Hall to keep all aspects of the festival close together, Voyageur said this morning the group will move on to looking at possible new locations.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed,” he said.