The Lights are Off, the Doors are Closed. What’s Happening at Arts Commons?
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You might think that with the concerts and performances cancelled or postponed, Arts Commons has just turned off the lights and closed down. Well, with a building the size and complexity of Arts Commons, there’s much more to it than that.
“There are numerous automated processes that happen while the building is in regular use,” says Lance Olson, Senior Manager, Facilities and Operations at Arts Commons. “Something you might not think about, is that our hands-free toilets, automatically flush once every 24 hours, so with the building not currently in use, we’ve turned some of our usual system refreshes off. Just the shuting down the automated flushers on our 166 toilets and 54 urinals in the building saves over 30 000 litres of water a month.”
Though we’ve turned off most of those automatic processes through most of the building, there’s one area of the building that’s recently been serving a very important role. Early in April, the need for an emergency shelter that could accommodate safe social distancing for the city’s most vulnerable was identified. The Calgary Telus Convention Centre (CTCC) stepped up to provide space for up to 350 people per night. Though the CTCC has space for beds, it doesn’t have any showering facilities. Arts Commons, being in the perfect position to provide this service, as the Convention Centre’s nearest neighbour, offered use of the showers housed within the many dressing rooms of Arts Commons. At nearly 40 people a day, this service has proved essential to the continued safety and social distancing measures put in place to help protect Calgary’s most vulnerable, as well as to maintain their human dignity.
Another important aspect to consider when a building like Arts Commons goes quiet, is that climate control and maintaining a constant humidity isn’t just for the comfort of patrons and staff. Arts Commons is home to sensitive musical instruments like the Carthy Organ, stage performance pianos, and the instruments of both the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Calgary Civic Symphony. A major shift in temperature or humidity could do serious, possibly permanent damage.
“It’s important that we balance the needs of the equipment and instruments in the building, with the intent of decreasing our power consumption as much as possible,” says OIson. “We are currently operating on only emergency lighting. As well, all non-essential power consumption has been turned off, or hugely decreased, which is saving us thousands of dollars a week in power. Keeping our building safe and keeping our costs down is driving every decision. We will be ready to open when allowed.”
Although a reopening date is still unknown, Arts Commons is ensuring that the building is ready to welcome the community back through the doors whenever that time comes.
