Potential of Convergys

(from a media release distributed Thursday, October 14)

I challenge the Mayor and council to STOP making decisions on any of our city's assets until after October 27th.

Specifically, the citizens of Brandon have an asset that, before its sold off for commercial development, should be considered as a way to leverage public investment in a general museum. I am talking about the Convergys Building.

This is a community asset that could benefit the city in ways beyond the highest selling price. Consider:

Museums are about learning. The General Museum group could partner with ACC Collegiate (who currently have an absentee landloard in Calgary on the property they rent on Rosser Ave), Neelin's downtown high school (Brandon School Division rents a building on 10th Street that is up for tax sale later this week), and Westman Immigrant Services (Convergys Building's current tenant) to create a Learning Centre in the Convergys Building. The Convergys Building is well suited physically to this type of conversion, and even with the three partners, the general museum, the community archives, there would still be space left over for a daycare and teashop. ACC, Neelin, and Westman Immigrant Services could pay their market rent to the museum, giving the museum stable, baseline funding.

Convergys is an asset for all of Brandon, and a Learning Centre concept would provide long term benefit to the entire community.