Nathan Medd is delighted with the future of Pandora Avenue 900 block, a block that many see as the most difficult part of Victoria.
Medd is the Director General of the Victorian Music Conservatory. Its operating hall operated at semi -capacity from pandemic, partly because of the stray campsites.
However, he says the neighborhood is changing and the Conservatory is about to throw the door and become the cultural heart of the growing neighborhood – the day that has yet to be set.
The 900 Pandora block in the center of Victoria is a place where some people who are inactive or need social services have gathered. Here they can reach things like food, showers and an overdose prevention.
However, the block also points out the concern of some Victoria’s residents and business owners who were increasingly worried about street disorders.
In July The city has announced a $ 10 million plan to solve the community security center, which includes increased funding for laws, to the police and repair Pandora infrastructure to make public spaces more attractive. The plan also contains funding for social services, including housing support.
A new 15 -storey apartment building named in the center of Victoria was opened in the corner of Pandora Avenue and Vancouver Street. It is at the opposite end of the 900 Pandora Quarter from the Conservatory. (Kathryn Marlow/CBC)
Recently, Medd has used a city grant to work with other district groups to imagine the future of the block-what only saw a new 15-storey apartment building, while several other towers will come in the next five years.
“It will always be a rough neighborhood. It was one of the agreements we all dealt with,” he said.
But he also imagines it would be a place where their concert hall could bring people to the neighborhood, and music and art could flow into the street.
Karen Mills, an information worker, agrees that arts and culture can help establish contacts with people who are currently living or spending time in the block, but said he would need more effort to connect the community.
Mills, Executive Director of Outreach Group Peer2Peer, was homeless for eight years.
“When you start placing fences … It sends a clear, strong message to the non -conscious community that you don’t like them, that you are afraid of them, you don’t want to partnership with them,” she said.
Mills do not think that Pandora will change anything until there is a plan that does not displace people from the necessary services they need in the block.
Listen to | Victorian Music Conservatoire Pandora’s Future Plans:
Once the Conservatory Activity Hall is fully opened, it is still unknown.
Alix Goolden Performance Hall is a 135 -year -old building that was once a church and was damaged when people camped against her.
The city built large blue fences to protect parts of the block from further damage, including the hall.
When the blue fences rose, the emergency exits of the building were blocked and the firefighter’s Marshal limited the number of people allowed in the building.
Mayor Marianne Alto told CBC All points to the west She hopes that the blue fences may decrease by November.
MEDD said he was “carefully optimistic”, which would happen, but said he would like to know if the change was constant before starting to open the hall completely.
However, he is convinced of the work of the city, the storming of his minds, and the many new residents coming to the neighborhood, mean the bright future of the 900 Pandora block.