Anvil Centre is seeking $100,000 to help dim the lights in the ballroom.
The city’s 2016 capital budget includes a request for $100,000 to upgrade the ballroom lights so they can be dimmed during events in certain locations of the room for audiovisual presentations. Anvil Centre staff say clients often request the lights dimmed for presentations or speakers, but that’s currently not an option.
“The system currently does not meet conference standards, so to ensure that clients are receiving the best possible experience - we are actually climbing on a ladder and unscrewing lightbulbs,” said Vali Marling, general manager of Anvil Centre. “What we are proposing is that the wiring is redone. It wasn’t wired the way I guess I would have had it wired.”
When Anvil Centre gets requests for dimmed lights in the ballroom, the city rents a scissor-lift so staff can unscrew lights to fulfill the client’s needs. The budget report notes that “it is unusual” for a conference centre ballroom not to be able to accommodate clients’ lighting requests.
According to Marling, staff is working with the contractor to determine if there are ways to “significantly decrease” the cost of work needed to implement the lighting changes.
The city’s 2016 capital budget includes two other items related to Anvil Centre:
* Anvil Centre restaurant work corridor and private dining area - $400,000. This would involve the construction of a corridor and some ancillary spaces between the Anvil Centre lobby and the lobby of the office tower.
* Anvil Centre restaurant leasing and tenant improvements - $395,000. This work is being done so the city can lease out the restaurant space that’s located at the corner of Columbia and Eighth streets. A staff report states that additional costs are required, such as tenant allowances and real estate fees, and landlord work is also required to be completed prior to the tenant occupancy.
Anvil Centre, which opened in September 2014, is home to conference facilities, the New Media Gallery, the city’s museum and archives, the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, cultural spaces, a theatre and a café operated by Truffles Fine Foods.
