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It's difficult to believe that, only eight months ago, the first residents moved into the building. These pioneer residents are now well settled into their suites either with the belongings they brought with them or furniture they were lucky to acquire at the PAL "gift shop". When the call went out for furniture donations, the response was very generous and some new residents, who arrived with their suitcases, were able to furnish their suites, while others traded their own pieces for ones they preferred. The "shop" also served as a great meeting place and helped to establish friendships among the residents.
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The next step was to establish resident committees to plan and organize activities. The first one off the mark was the Social Committee which under the Chairmanship of Judy Walchuk has managed to produce a Thanksgiving dinner, a Halloween party, a Christmas Tree trimming party, a Christmas party, a group of Christmas Carolers, a Christmas dinner and a New Year's Eve party. This most imaginative and hard working group has been able to find sponsors for food and raffles and even make a small profit!!! The Gardening Committee was also formed to maintain and develop the magnificent roof garden. They have also raised funds for spring bulbs, which they planted in the fall, and various garden tools including a wheelbarrow. Winter maintenance and planning has kept them busy but they eagerly wait for spring to arrive in March to really get into the earth. Other committees are now being formed to organize the library, to institute a governance model, to organize volunteers and to cover resident activities as they arise. The buoyant, creative and upbeat spirit of the residents, envisioned by the founders, is indeed in full swing.
Meanwhile the Board of Directors has been active in planning the next phase of development, which is to raise the necessary funds to maintain the building, finish the theatre, sustain and improve levels of subsidy and establish an endowment fund. To that end a very positive and productive Board retreat was held in December. Board member William Samples (Ex-Officio AFBS representative) deserves a huge amount of credit for the success of the retreat as he introduced the superb facilitator, Ron Robinson from Abaris Consulting in London, Ontario. Everyone present was motivated, excited and committed. By the end of the weekend with priorities selected and those responsible for specific tasks identified, the Board, in one voice, took on the next phase of PAL with gusto and determination!
Now that the main building is complete, the focus turns to the 100 seat bijou theatre on the eighth floor. Construction work is progressing well with the sprung floor in place, the walls painted a rich aubergine and the technical amenities starting to appear. We are aware that many of the residents as well as other professionals in the performing arts community are waiting for the space to be available for projects and hope it will be fully functioning by late spring. Meanwhile, the piano in the lobby is in constant use and it is a joy to hear the music reverberating down the elevator shaft!
PAL Vancouver continues to move forward, to take on exciting new projects, to become a valuable asset to the wider Vancouver community and most of all to the residents. We encourage those PAL chapters starting out to bear in mind that PAL Vancouver took only five years from conception to occupancy and the result of all the hard work was well worth it!! Good luck to you all!! For on going up to date info please click here to go to the Vancouver website.
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Palingenesis - Fall 2005
