Inspiring Bloomfield

Across the country, and around the world, there are creative projects happening that are combining community, culture and commerce. Many of these projects have a basis in green building practices and energy efficiency. At their hearts, is an inclusion of community and the creation of spaces and places that embrace cultural and socioeconomic
diversity. Interestingly, many of the places that now house innovative community centres are old school buildings - buildings that have always had community involvement and benefited the public good.

In the Atlantic Provinces

The Aberdeen Centre is a restored 1916 building housing a permanent artistic centre in Moncton and as well as preserving a significant part of the local heritage. The Parc du Sommet thematic garden is the only one of its kind in the Atlantic provinces, providing a place for the region's visual and performing artists to present permanent and temporary exhibitions, concerts and shows. While the Aberdeen Centre houses mostly arts facilities and organizations, its vision in restoring a heritage building can be easily replicated at the Bloomfield Centre.

The Charlotte Street School in Fredericton, NB took over a decade to come into being as a community arts and culture Centre. Today, the Centre thrives with a mandate of integrating the arts and the community. The Centre is a welcoming place where the public can access the arts through programming, events and activities and through informal contact with practising artists. The Centre provides space to artists and arts organizations for the purpose of creation, production, administrative activities and to share ideas with one another.

In Nova Scotia, the Mahone Bay Centre, is a restored school building. The Centre's vision is to support and enhance quality of life and contribute to the economic and social well being of Mahone Bay and neighbouring communities. The Centre is for the benefit of the community for culture, recreation, life long learning and community development.

Across Canada...

401 Richmond in Toronto is an eco-restoration of an old factory that has become a model for co-location of organizations, businesses and services to create a "city within a city."

Artscape is a non-profit enterprise that builds creative communities and expands knowledge about the dynamics of creative places. Artscape's work encompasses building creative places, developing creative districts & clusters, and cultivating creative cities.

Dufferin Grove Park is a public park in Toronto (at Bloor and Dufferin). There is a bread oven that is fired up weekly, where neighbours can bake and share food. The are community potlucks, theatre, and art events held regularly in the summer months. Dufferin Grove is loved by friends and neighbours and is unique, creative and inclusive.

Green Energy Benny Farms is an award winning non-profit organization that is overseeing the energy systems retrofit of an innovative housing retrofit in the NDG area of Montreal. The project has reused building materials, retrofitted buildings and installed a heating
system that uses solar energy and geothermal storage as a heating system for the buildings.

The Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts is partnering with the Edmonton Inner City Housing Society in a plan to relocate the NHCA to a new mixed-use development site at the corner of 93rd Street and 118th Avenue that would also include low-income condo units.

The Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre n Vancouver, BC has a two fold mandate: to be a centre for community cultural development and a community source for recreational activities for all ages. The Roundhouse thrives on exploring issues, on taking risks, on being cutting edge. They strive to bring people together in new ways to explore what is important to them. Through stretching boundaries and challenging perceptions, the Roundhouse endeavours to build community and make the world a better place.

Tell us about other places that have inspired you to think about creative communities.

Send us a link at imaginebloomfield@gmail.com