Hawkesbury’s Centre culturel Le Chenail has been told it will need to find a new home next year.
The organization has been located at the historic Maison de l’île in Confederation Park since 2011. It uses the building as an exhibition space, boutique, café, and venue for small performances. The Town of Hawkesbury owns the Maison de l’île and leases it to the cultural centre.
On March 1, a letter from Hawkesbury Chief Administrative Officer Samuel Cardarelli was sent to Le Chenail President Suzanne Hocquard and Vice President Gérard Malo indicating that the current lease ends on April 30, 2024 and that this lease does not contain a clause allowing the centre to remain in the house after that date. Malo provided The Review with a copy of the letter. However, the letter does acknowledge that the town has had conversations with Artistic Director Lynda Clouette-Mackay and board members who expressed their wish that the centre remains where it is.
The letter indicates that the Town of Hawkesbury is performing an evaluation of all municipal properties to determine if their current uses are appropriate or should be changed. As a result of the evaluation, the town is prepared to allow the cultural centre to remain in the house for no more than one additional year, ending April 30, 2025 under an amended lease.
The letter from the town to Centre culturel Le Chenail states that the centre owed the town $29,225.68 as of December 31, 2023 for unpaid energy costs. The heating in the house was formerly electric but was changed to propane in 2017. The March 1, 2024 letter claims that the cultural centre is only partially paying the amounts due as of December 6, 2017. The overdue amounts are attributable to 80 per cent of the propane costs, as the town currently charges the centre for 100 per cent of the propane cost but the centre adjusts their payments to pay only 20 per cent of those costs.
Clouette-Mackay said the lease only requires the centre to pay 20 per cent of energy costs.
The town continues to bill electricity costs at 20 per cent until it installs a separate meter and panel to distinguish between the centre’s electricity consumption and the towns. There is only one electrical service for all of Confederation Park. Maison de l’île is on the same service as the adjacent park restrooms. The letter from the town to the centre explains that an electrician and the town’s Superintendent of Buildings, estimated that the Maison de l’île consumes about 65 to 75 per cent of the total electricity bill for the island. The letter explains the town used the figure of 60 per cent of electricity costs to bill the centre and believes that is a conservative estimate.
“We would simply like to highlight the windfall already achieved by the center given that the town covers the difference of 40 per cent of its electricity expenses,” the letter noted.
In 2022, the issue of electricity and propane costs between Centre culturel Le Chenail and the Town of Hawkesbury was also raised but has remained unresolved.
Clouette-Mackay said the cultural centre has helped benefit the Town of Hawkesbury financially because as a not-for-profit organization, it has been able to leverage about $400,000 in grant funding over the years from federal and provincial agencies to support not only programming, but renovations to the Maison de l’île. She also highlighted the cultural benefits the centre offers to Hawkesbury residents and how it employs young people and individuals who could face barriers to employment in other workplaces.
Currently, it is not known where Centre culturel Le Chenail will relocate to in 2025, when it is also due to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
“We don’t know,” Clouette-Mackay said.
She said a new location would also likely require the centre to completely change its business plan, especially if a new location does not include space for a café, boutique, and performances.
Citing confidentiality, Cardarelli and Hawkesbury Mayor Robert Lefebvre declined to make further comments from the perspective of the town on the situation involving the lease and energy costs for Centre culturel Le Chenail. Maison de l’île was listed as an item for Hawkesbury council to discuss during the closed session of the March 4 council meeting.
