A non-profit group with over 500 performers, artists and art professionals is scrambling to put a new roof over their heads and calling on Calgarians for support.
“I really think Youth Singers is like a family, and this is basically our house,” says Ella Roemer who joined the Youth Singers of Calgary when she was just five-years-old.
“I’ve been here for 12 years, so this is really where I grew up learning to dance and sing.”
The building Roemer and hundreds of others call their second home, the ATCO Performing Arts Centre, is in desperate need of roof repairs. Every time it rains, or when snow melts, water leaks through the ceiling.
“We knew that our roof would need repairing in the next five to 10 years. but I think given the weather and just some changes, it’s more like five to 10 months we need to be replacing that roof,” says Megan Emmett, the CEO of Youth Singers of Calgary.
Youth Singers of Calgary, which owns the building, says it will take up to $600,000 in order to repair the damaged roof.
The non-profit hopes to raise $80,000 with the help of the public — adding that the remaining funds will be provided through grant funding from the Alberta Government, as well as an operating reserve.
“This building is used by so many different community members — choir groups, spelling bees, fencing groups, so we know that there’s other people out there that will be excited to contribute,” Emmett says.
The funds raised would go towards repairing and replacing the existing roof with one that guarantees a long-term solution for the arts centre.
However, if the group cannot come up with the funds, the over 500 performers, artists, and arts professionals who call this space home could face an uncertain future.
“It’s key to the program, it’s key to what we do, and I think that having this safe space and continuing to have it is really important,” says Roemer. “I’m really hoping that the community will pitch in and help keep this place alive.”
Donations can be made online at the Alberta Crowdfunding website, or at YouthSingers.org.