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New West artists fight for their beloved studios

Artists have drawn up a petition they hope will save 100 Braid St. Studios from the wrecking ball.
Gillian Wright, 100 Braid Street Studios
Gillian Wright's studio was part of a grand opening celebration and winter art market at the 100 Braid Street Studios. The building is slated to be demolished to make way for a new development at the site, a move that's resulted in an online petition to retain the heritage building as part of the development.

Artists have drawn up a petition they hope will save 100 Braid St. Studios from the wrecking ball.

In May, city council approved a zoning amendment bylaw that would pave the way for a residential highrise, a 60,000-square-foot school for Urban Academy and 4,300 square feet of art gallery and studio space at the site near Braid and Brunette. The petitioners hope the building at 100 Braid St., built in 1929 as the winery building for B.C. Distillery, can be saved as part of the development.

 “I felt like the building could be incorporated into the whole scheme. With its heritage values, I thought it could be like the heritage homes or buildings that are incorporated into townhouses and apartment complexes from the Lower Mainland,” said artist Iris Mes Low. “People don’t know how beautiful it is because they see it from the wrong side, they see it from Braid Street. They don’t see how beautiful the windows on the other side are.”

The petition states that it’s tragic that the “light-filled” heritage building is slated for demolition, as it has so much to offer the city in terms of the arts, as well as special events such as weddings and pop-up galleries. While they’re not opposed to redevelopment of the site, the petitioners would like to see the building incorporated into the site plan.

“The atmosphere is so much different in a new build than an old one. We don’t know what the light will be like. We don’t have any guarantees on how much space each artist will get,” Mes Low said. “I think Wesgroup is fairly open to talking about things like that. I don’t think they will save the building.”

Mes Low said a Wesgroup representative told her told the developer will try to reuse some components of the building, such as windows and old-growth wooden beams, but the building itself isn’t structurally sound or salvageable.

Artist Susan Grieg began leasing the 5,600 warehouse in March 2015 and spent three months renovating it into a space that could accommodate private art studios and a gallery.  A year later, the business is a place for artists, as well as fashion shows, weddings and other events.

As of Aug. 26, 150 people had signed the petition. A Wesgroup spokesperson could not be reached for comment before the Record’s deadline to comment on the petition, the condition of the building or the project’s timeline.

“It was always intended throughout Wesgroup's rezoning of 100 Braid St., to work alongside the local arts community in order to enhance the location while reflecting the artist’s needs, particularly through the inclusion of a new and updated artist studio and gallery, which has been part of the proposal from early on in the process. The new studio will encompass mechanical and electrical updates to allow more artists of varying crafts the ability to utilize this space. Additionally, attention will be made to the location of the space in order to emphasize a natural light filled studio, offering an optimal ambience to work under. This will be made available to artists at the current rent as it is today,” said a statement emailed to the Record. “Further, the rezoning will recognize the existing heritage of the site through signage, public art, place naming and architectural landscape features. Specifically, Wesgroup would like to engage a local New Westminster artist to commission a public art piece in order to commemorate the site’s heritage and the character of the building. They are also looking at options to retain some of the wood beams in the current building to incorporate them into the new artist space and/or into the public art.”