The Progressive Conservative government is clawing back a $3-million grant for a major arts centre project in Ancaster meant to be built this year.

The yanked grant represents the second major reversal of a Hamilton funding promise from the ousted Liberals since the election. Last fall, the new PC government killed an agreement to sell Mountain brow lands and use proceeds to build affordable housing in the lower city.

The $16.5-million Ancaster Arts Centre project is supposed to transform the former Memorial school into an arts hub with a 450-seat theatre, gallery and space for community programming. Seniors housing is also slated for the property on Wilson Street East in the historic heart of the town.

The previous Liberal government announced a $3-million grant for the project in late 2017 with much fanfare — prompting the federal Liberals to follow suit with a $1.5 million offering.

But the current PC government — which is seeking to trim what it says is an inherited $13.5-billion deficit — told The Spectator Tuesday it "cannot proceed" with the grant after a "thorough review."

"The previous government went on a pre-election spending spree," said Brett Weltman, press secretary to Culture Minister Michael Tibollo. "They knew full well they couldn't afford to deliver on their promises."

Reached on vacation in Arizona, Ancaster Coun. Lloyd Ferguson called the decision "devastating" for Ancaster and all residents who have fundraised close to $3.7 million for the project.

The city spent $3.2 million to buy the land and $2.1 million has already gone into site preparation and archeological studies ahead of construction.

The project was supposed to be under construction already, but budget and tender snafus convinced the city to cancel an earlier bidding process with the intention of re-tendering in the spring.

"I'm so angry, I can't even think ... We were so close to getting this done," said Ferguson, who received the news Tuesday from local Progressive Conservative MPP Donna Skelly.

Longtime backer and fundraising chair Bob Wilkins also expressed shock and "great disappointment" at the "unexpected speed bump" for a project that has been in planning as far back as 2011.

He noted the Ancaster Society for the Performing Arts was already tapped to run the centre in a 10-year lease, while other partners like Theatre Ancaster were banking on the extra space to help expand youth programming.

"What I can promise you, though, is that we won't stop. This project will get done. It is too important not just to Ancaster but the whole community of Hamilton."

An upset Ferguson said Skelly should have "gone to bat" for the funding. He referenced the cancelled Mountain brow land deal — and rumours about the uncertain fate of Hamilton's $1-billion LRT — in suggesting the Flamborough-Glanbrook MPP risks being saddled with a "project-killer legacy."

"This was approved money. It was in last year's budget," Ferguson said. "And the amount, that's just spit in the ocean for this government."

But Skelly argued Tuesday the promised cash was never actually accounted for in the provincial budget — an "unsustainable" practice she said an ongoing government review has discovered in more than one pre-election Liberal funding promise.

"It was a press release without funding attached," said Skelly. (For the record, she also said "the $1 billion is still there" for LRT or other infrastructure needs in Hamilton.)

"I feel bad, because I know many people in Ancaster and elsewhere supported this project. I support it ... But it is another casualty of the former Liberal government's effort to buy votes."

Past Liberal Hamilton MPP and cabinet minister Ted McMeekin called that contention "ridiculous," arguing the $3-million grant had both treasury board and cabinet approval in 2018, when it was referenced in the budget. "What they're doing to that community, and how they're justifying it, is inexcusable."

Sandy Shaw, the New Democrat MPP for Hamilton West-Ancaster Dundas, said the province is showing a "lack of vision" in axing a grant that would promote both the arts and economic activity in the community.

She urged the province to reconsider it ahead of the 2019 budget, expected April 11. "We'll certainly be raising a ruckus about it."

Skelly expressed hope arts centre backers will reapply for funding via other grant programs, pointing as an example to a pending joint provincial-federal infrastructure funding framework.

Ferguson said he hasn't given up on the project, but added he will have to consult with the city and local project supporters to determine where they look next for makeup cash.

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Without the provincial grant, the construction project is still short between $4-4.5 million.

mvandongen@thespec.com

905-526-3241 | @Mattatthespec

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