A new vision for the 900-block of Pandora in Victoria includes exterior changes to Alix Goolden Performance Hall and a potential music plaza; something that advocates for homelessness in the area say could illustrate real positive change.
"We're very invested in it," said Julian Daly, CEO of Our Place Society, a neighbouring community support centre that serves Greater Victoria's most vulnerable. "I think it really is a hope for the future and can help turn Pandora from a symbol of despair and failure, in some ways, into a symbol of hope and transformation."
Alix Goolden Performance Hall, the Victoria Conservatory of Music's (VCM) major venue located at a heritage site at 907 Pandora Ave., is currently undergoing a $250,000 exterior upgrade. The hope is these changes will bring in more people after Pandora has long housed a major homeless encampment.
Nathan Medd, the conservatory's CEO, is also advocating for a public plaza on the south side of the 900-block of Pandora Avenue, which would stretch from the performance hall to the street, taking over the current wide stretch of sidewalk. Our Place Society are co-creators of that plan, investing some of its resources in hiring the architects to work on the project.
The project aims to create a "truly community" space on the block that "everyone can use" including those who live and work on the block, and those who access Our Place Society, Daly explained.
"Music is very therapeutic and healing, especially for people who have experienced extreme trauma in their lives, which is many of the people we serve."
Daly said the architect firm Cascadia has done two design charrettes, with about 20 people or so attending each, producing an outline design for the block. The plan is to get the design in front of council "in the near future", and then to secure funding.
The plaza would potentially consist of an outdoor music space, a "therapeutic garden", and an area for physical activity and play. "Maybe a memorial space for people who died from this community as well," Daly added.
The city already unanimously approved a grant in August 2024 to VCM for $131,000 through the Major Community Initiatives and Events Grant, which has $540,000 in total to help fund large-scale events and initiatives with a long-term legacy in the city.
B次元官网网址淭his motion demonstrates a strong belief by the city that a thriving performing arts centre is one key to revitalization in the Harris Green neighbourhood,B次元官网网址� said Medd in a press release at the time.
Victoria B次元官网网址 asked councillor Matt Dell if the city is at all concerned about the viability of a plaza on Pandora, given its current state.
B次元官网网址淚 think all of council is committed to improving the situation on Pandora, which includes investment in housing, social supports and police/bylaw, but also investment in placemaking and public spaces. So, we'll need to work hard to ensure the Music Conservatory and Alix Goolden Hall are allowed to thrive,B次元官网网址� he said.
New development is coming to the area with the approval of 205 new supportive and affordable rental homes at 926/930 Pandora Ave., in partnership with BC Housing, the City of Victoria and the Capital Region Housing Corporation. It will also include a 16,000-square-foot community space for recreation and childcare.
While the plaza is still in the works, VCM is currently using the grant money to install a four-foot-tall ironwork fence on the corner of Pandora and Quadra, and a "handsome set" of seven gates at the foot of the historic staircases leading from the exits. Stained glass windows will be repaired, the historic wooden doors restored, and the landscape reimagined.
As Medd explained to Victoria B次元官网网址, the fence and gates are to "improve the egress from Alix Goolden Performance Hall which was at one time impeded by an encampment, but at the moment is impeded by the construction fencing that was put up to facilitate this upgrade." He previously estimated the blockages to result in lost revenues and added costs exceeding $1.5 million.
The vision to revitalize Pandora took place as part of the previous Mayor's Pandora Task Force, Medd explained.
This past year saw the execution of a three-part plan to restore Pandora and rehome the homeless, which began with clean-ups of the encampments in May 2024. The and involves providing housing alternatives and enhanced health care for those living on Pandora and Ellice, as well as removing tents and camps from the streets.
It's created a dramatic change in the area surrounding Alix Goolden, which currently has more than 50 studios and classrooms on its site, three concert venues and a music therapy centre. "It is unique on Vancouver Island," Medd said.
"There are challenges outside, but inside it is every bit the creative sanctuary, as visitors know. Moving to the Victoria site was one of the ConservatoryB次元官网网址檚 most visionary long-term decisions. ItB次元官网网址檚 a vision that required courage then, and still does."
Daly described VCM as "good partners and neighbours" who have "always been minded to have activities and outreach into the community."
He hopes together, their partnership can create potential for the block to indicate to people that "things have really changed and transformed and that we have as best we can as a city, addressed street homelessness and camping and got people to a better place."
"It's something actually Our Place has been dreaming of for a long time," Daly said.