The congregation of the over century old Third Avenue United Church has decided to issue a request for proposals (RFP) that will allow the building’s current functions to continue.

It’s after the River Bend Presbytery decided they would not allow the church board to apply for Heritage status in an effort to fund much need repairs to the building and prevent it from possible demolition.

All of the bids in the RSP process will have include plans to protect the buildingand allow the congregation to continue using the building for functions like Sunday morning worship times.

One of several interested parties is the Third Avenue Centre which has been actively working to raise funds for the building’s repairs with concert series and other live music performances.

Mark Turner, artistic director of Third Avenue Centre said he has developed a concept plan of his own to repurpose the building as a concert hall.

“What it does, and this is what I’ve been trying to say to people, is that that instead of a concert hall being housed inside a church there will be a church housed inside a concert hall,” said Turner.

Turner has said numerous times that no other facility in the city has the excellent acoustics and atmosphere that are found in this building. The church has a long history of hosting Saskatoon music showcases.

“Essentially for my concept plan to hold any weight were looking for some heroes, we’re looking for people who are really passionate about the city and people who are really vested in the idea of being able to support the arts with an affordable concert hall,” said Turner.

He said his concept plan was developed because he saw a need for a hall in Saskatoon that was between the size of TCU Place and the size of Broadway or Persephone.

He said the Third Avenue Centre has also been developing partnerships opportunities with deferent performance groups and the University of Saskatchewan.

SFroese@rawlco.com

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