Loggie's Shoes, 1843 Hamilton
Inner Circle Management has secured the top two floors of Loggie's Shoes through a long term lease agreement with the building owners, Loggie's Shoes. This is another heritage building, constructed in 1912. It's located immediately north of the Leader Building. We are calling this space the Creative City Centre.
Renovations are nearing completion for the establishment of a fashion design cooperative on the second floor, with plans for artist studio spaces on the third floor, as well as a performance room that will offer small music concerts, film screenings, literary nights, visual art displays and many other cultural events, including educational classes and workshops.
A detailed business case for the fashion design cooperative was developed, with the intention that this space would provide an opportunity for young designers to have a place to work together, showcase their products, and do some joint marketing.
Architectural drawings were completed, as well as mechanical drawings for the work required on the heating/air conditioning units and the plumbing. These were required for our application for municipal heritage designation on this building. By getting heritage status, most of the work we will be doing will count toward a tax exemption on the property, which will help to keep the operating costs down. Our application for heritage status was submitted in July 2009.
We approached Women Entrepreneurs and the Federal Business Development Bank of Canada for financing for this project, but were turned down because a) we don't own the building, and b) our tenants are not "Triple A". (Triple A means a nationally recognized corporation, like SaskTel, Government of Canada, etc.) Because of this, we raised the funds for the renovation through other means. As we are trying to prove that buildings for creative purposes are sustainable and economically viable, we asked people in the community to consider lending us the funds, to be paid back through future revenues (rents from the tenants).
To date, we have received loans from Dr. Roberta McKay and Elmer Brenner, from Mrs. Jacqui Shumiatcher and from local artist and entrepreneur Carol Cairns. We are very grateful for their support of this project. Renovations are nearing completion, and the grand opening is being scheduled for May 2011.
For the full story, please go to www.creativecitycentre.ca.