New Vision church needs $3.9M to transform auditorium into 1,000-seat live music venue

Hamilton's New Vision United Church is plodding along with a project to transform its auditorium into a 1,000-seat live music venue.

The idea for the Music Hall at the 1868 heritage-designated landmark, located at 24 Main St. W., was born during Juno Fest in 2015 when the city's music scene was looking for concert venues.

Ian Sloan, New Vision co-ordinator of the Music Hall Initiatives, says they now need to raise $3.9 million to bring a much needed state-of-the-art venue to Hamilton's downtown.

He said the initial estimate of $1 million did not include major capital expenses such as air conditioning and improved ventilation of the auditorium, an electrical service upgrade and a production elevator.

"Those three things … contribute probably to half of that $3.9 million figure," Sloan told CBC Hamilton. 

"The rest of it has to do with price increases [and] inflation. Construction costs have gone up a lot and as we refined the project it became clear that there were things that were very helpful to have … that would make it a really enjoyable venue."

The renovations designed and costed to date include the following:

Sloan says they have spent $450,000 so far, $250,000 of which was raised through grants. The rest came from New Vision Canada.

Sloan says their next step will be to talk with Hamilton's citizens and community leaders to develop a clear structure for operating and programming the venue.

"Those taking up the challenge will then push ahead with the renovations leading to the many event and performance opportunities that await," Sloan said. 

"To raise the rest of the money, that's the next challenge, that's the gathering together and empowering a group that can … put the funds together to enable these improvements that then enable the hall to be scaled up to many, many, many events a year."

Jeff Martin, a former co-chair of Hamilton Music Strategy, says while Hamilton has big venues that can hold 3,000 or 20,000 people, the city needs a mid-sized venue like the Music Hall. 

"One of the things that the music strategy identified is that we need a concert venue in Hamilton that can accommodate that 1,000 or 1,200," Martin told CBC Hamilton.

"So, this is a really important thing for Hamilton's music community and the city itself to have this really genuine venue that seats 1,000 people, and it's also an architectural gem and a historic building, so we're very lucky."