The Mayor of Yarmouth says arts, culture and heritage generates ten times more economic benefits than sporting activites.
Pam Mood says she’s done her research and looked at provincial numbers.
She says a new arts centre remains number one on the town’s local priorities list.
But she says an expansion of the Mariners Centre is number three on its regional priorities list, after the airport and the ferry terminal.
Representatives of the Mariners Centre, the Curling Club and the YMCA have been trying to convince the three municipal units in Yarmouth that an expansion to the facility is needed and would generate many economic benefits.
The ‘Y’ and Curling Association have both made their cases, each saying their present facilities do not serve the needs of the community and that both require major upgrades and a move to a larger Mariners Centre would be a lifeline.
Mayor Mood says the town council must stick to its priorities list.
“When the curling club says we need some money infused or we need to move out to the Mariners Centre and the YMCA says that, I would suggest that we probably have have a dozen or so other organizations that are in the same spot. So what do we do ? Do we move everybody up to the top of the list ? We can’t do that.”
She says it’s not a competition between arts and sport.
“We’re a sporting community, I understand that. But people make their decision based on emotions, you know, I want to jump in the pooI, I want to go skating, my kids love sports. But there’s a whole community out there that live and breathes arts and culture and we need to get that piece on the table and get it done.”
Mood says she’s done her research, citing numbers from the province.
“I can’t remember the year but in Nova Scotia alone it said that arts, culture and heritage contributed $868 million dollars to the Nova Scotia economy, 14,305 jobs. Sports equaled $88 million, that’s more than 10 times. 2100 jobs.
You can listen to the complete interview with Mayor Mood on the Weekender this Sunday morning.
