Dear Editor
Re: Arts being neglected? Cry me a river, Letters to the editor, Burnaby NOW, Nov. 11.
In response to Mark Berry’s letter, I wonder if he has ever been in the Shadbolt Centre to participate in any of the programs run by the wonderful staff there. This 20-year-old facility, yes, 20 years old, charges fees for each and every class that is run there. I know of this as a regular user for the past 11 years.
I do recall seeing many playing fields in Burnaby around the time that the arts centre was expanded and renamed as the Shadbolt Centre.
Since then, spending on arts has been, what I might call maintenance level, keeping programs running, but without expansion. The new training centre on Kensington is a wonderful sports facility, and one that I am proud of, don’t get me wrong. We do need a more balanced approach to the funding of both arts and sports.
Dave McGuigan, Burnaby
