Tag: Culture

Work to Start on Restoring Certo Building

John Draper

On the property of FV Pharma, a subsidiary of FSD Pharma which owns the Cannabis plant at the old Kraft property, there is a derelict building once used to do research on the pectin product branded Certo.  In 2017 it was in really bad shape with an engineering estimate of approx. $500K to restore it so the company asked for a demolition permit.  But after a public outcry (see links below) the permit was denied and the company said they would restore the building and convert it to an on-site dispensary with a completion date of 6-8 weeks or around January 2019.  The announcement was made by Thomas Fairfull but since that time, he is no longer the CEO and… Read complete articleWork to Start on Restoring Certo Building

Cobourg’s Entertainment Scene – 2020

John Draper

There are many events in Cobourg that could be described as entertainment – from stage shows to movies to speakers to “parties”. Most are produced by not-for-profit volunteer organizations but a few are promotional events for bars, restaurants etc and one (Rainbow Theatre) is commercial.  Cobourg has only three venues that are primarily for entertainment: The Concert Hall at Victoria Hall, the Cobourg Loft and of course the Rainbow.  The Park Theatre is still derelict with nothing happening to restore it – at the rate it’s going, it will likely get demolished by neglect.  It’s hard to see how a large theatre like the Park would be viable given the apparently thriving Capitol just down the road.  However, there could… Read complete articleCobourg’s Entertainment Scene – 2020

Progress on New Museum for Dressler House

John Draper

Marie Dressler Foundation is planning an expansion of the museum at Dressler House to include sections for the other two Canadian female Oscar winners: Mary Pickford and Norma Shearer and at Monday’s Council Meeting, the team working on this gave a progress report.  Toronto University agreed to offer the project to students in their Master program for Museum Studies and 5 students accepted: Michelle Wright, Enya Barbeau, Karen Cheung, Natalie Heaton and Emma Myers.  They presented a brief overview of what the museum will look like and talked about the great access they had to experts who are knowledgeable about the two stars plus thousands of artifacts – mostly photographs and film clips.  It appears that this will be the… Read complete articleProgress on New Museum for Dressler House

More Focus on Entertainment in Cobourg

John Draper

The New Year brings a new web site – CobourgCalendar.ca  The content is not new, it has been moved from the Cobourg Internet Entertainment pages.  This section of the Cobourg Internet site has been the most popular so a separate site is warranted. Also, citizen input to the Cultural Plan asked for the Town to do a better job of collecting event information and making it available to the public, but currently, the Town’s event pages focus on their own events.  They do a good job of publicizing Library events and events whose tickets are sold at the Concert Hall Box office but that’s pretty much it.  So for information on other events, Cobourg Citizens must either rely on word… Read complete articleMore Focus on Entertainment in Cobourg

Netflix Back in Town

John Draper

In late August this year, a film production company was in Cobourg shooting an early episode of a new Netflix series, Ginny and Georgia (see link below) – and they were back again on Tuesday.  This time they shot a scene in front of Victoria Hall with a “Fall Festival” theme and they closed off King Street for the day. Lots of Cobourg passers-by stopped to look at what was happening but if you ventured past a sign (see text below), you could end up as a free extra in the film.   It’s flattering that film producers like what they see in Cobourg but also the crew needs to eat so they do bring business to the Town.  The Town… Read complete articleNetflix Back in Town

Final Cultural Plan presented to Council

John Draper

At the Committee of the Whole Council Meeting on 15 October, Consultants MDB Insights will present the “final” Cultural Plan for approval (see link below).  A draft was presented to the public for comment online and at a meeting on 5 September and I estimated 42 citizens came out.  The presentation mostly talks about what was done to create the document with a limited number of recommendations.  As described in the Public meeting, 6 strategic Directions are suggested but most of the plan is about what the role is for the Town and how Cultural activities should be directed.  There were no recommendations on hard questions such as: “should the Park Theatre be purchased and restored?”; “exactly how much money… Read complete articleFinal Cultural Plan presented to Council

Cultural Master Plan – Public Meeting

John Draper

The second public meeting for gathering input on the Cultural Master Plan was held at the CCC on Thursday – only 42 people showed up, mostly the same people as always come to these meetings.  Three Councillors were there (Deputy Mayor Suzanne Séguin, Councillors Adam Bureau and Nicole Beatty). A draft plan has been issued and it contains Six Strategic Directions which the Public was asked to comment on.  The common theme of the “Directions” is better promotion and communication.  It seems we are already doing well and have a good supply of culture – all we need to do is communicate and promote it better.  The Plan contains no blockbuster recommendations – some thought it might recommend establishing a… Read complete articleCultural Master Plan – Public Meeting

Netflix Comes to Cobourg

John Draper

From Monday 26th of August through Wednesday 28th of August, a film crew was in town shooting parts of a new Netflix series, Ginny & Georgia (more below).  Since the story was set in “the charming New England town of Wellsbury, Massachusetts” (which doesn’t exist), Cobourg had to look American with lots of American flags and even a US  Post mailbox.  The script required a drive through the Town and I learned how movie producers do this realistically – see photos below.  There was minimal disruption of downtown – mostly just some temporary loss of parking space – but “approx. 100 actors (I think they meant total number of people) and 40 trucks” were said to be in Town so… Read complete articleNetflix Comes to Cobourg