Khyber supporters call council vote “step in the right direction”
Posted Sep 10, 2014 06:14:10 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The group “Friends of the Khyber” says it’s won a small victory, but there’s still work to be done.
Halifax Regional Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to keep the historic Khyber building off of the city’s surplus properties list. City staff will now revisit their report to look at the cost of renovations, and what can be done with the building in the event that it is declared surplus.
Emily Davidson is an organizer with the group.
“We’re very excited about lots of the councillor’s positive comments about arts and culture, and about the queer community,” she said. “We’re feeling pretty excited about what happened here today.”
The group marched from the NSCAD campus on Granville St. to City Hall to deliver a petition to Councillor Waye Mason with 2,339 signatures.
Local musician Joel Plaskett was on hand for the march. He offered cautious optimism.
“It’s not a victory until the doors of the Khyber are open, and people are back in there doing what they’ve done,” he said.
Councillor Gloria McCluskey joked that her hands were tied when it came to how she’d vote: “when you have the great Joel Plaskett crying on your shoulder, how can you resist, you know?”
Plaskett’s star power couldn’t have hurt the cause, but with unanimous consent from councillors all over the municipality, the future is bright for the Khyber.
