We express our heartfelt thanks to all our partners
Ontario Ministry of Culture
Township of Strathroy-Caradoc
Strathroy Downtown Business Improvement Area

CULTURAL MASTER PLAN

The Strathroy District Arts Council has been active in one form or another since 1998 but was formally incorporated as a Not-For-Profit Registered Charitable organization in the year 2000.  It soon became apparent that we required a Master Plan to guide us to continued success and building on the achievements of our short history.

After discussing our wishes for a Master Plan with staff from the Township of Strathroy-Caradoc, we were presented with an opportunity from the Ontario Ministry of Culture to write a Cultural Master Plan that had to be unique, but also a template for other communities to use. Thus the idea was born to write a Master Plan that focused not on Arts and Culture as the end result but rather on the relationship that Arts and Culture has with the community, specifically in terms of:

• civic pride
• economic development
• tourism and
• the social well being of our community

The Ontario Ministry of Culture, the Township of Strathroy-Caradoc, the Strathroy Business Improvement Area and the Strathroy District Arts Council funded this project. With SDAC as the lead organization along with the funding partners, there was also participation from the Strathroy and District Chamber of Commerce, the Strathroy Lions Club, Youth Opportunities Unlimited, Middlesex Community Futures Development Corp. and a number of committed and enthusiastic area residents.

There are seven Chapters to the Cultural Master Plan:

• Introduction – A general overview of the Arts in the Community, their value to the community and concepts relating to Arts and the community.

• Our Cultural Landscape – Cultural Planning concepts, defining our market, our diversity, our activities, learning and celebrating our past, and marketing approaches for the community.

• Tourists In Our Own Town – Ideas and concepts relating to creating and improving on opportunities for tourism in our community both from residents and non-residents.

• How to Grow a Great Downtown – Downtown Revitalization was a major part of the CMP.  Ideas for Arts, Culture and Heritage to create a sense of place to attract people into the downtown areas of our communities.

• Creating a Buzz – Identifying strategic roles in the community surrounding Arts, Culture and Heritage that create a momentum of awareness and participation of the community with the Arts.

• Centre for the Arts – The founding issue of SDAC was a dream of a Centre for the Arts.  This chapter outlines possible paths for the creation of a Centre for the Arts.
  
  
• Next Steps – A review of all the Action Items contained in the CMP identifying potential stakeholders, general costs, and readiness of the community and human resource commitments for each action item.

A ‘Needs Assessment Survey’ was also completed as part of the CMP.  SDAC strongly recommends that this document be read, as it is a snapshot of local people’s knowledge and participation in the Arts, their attitudes towards the Arts, their shopping and spending habits. There is also information regarding major community activities. This document was widely quoted in the community when it was released largely due to the relevance of the information to those people who are actively involved in organizations throughout the community.

The SDAC was extremely please with the level of participation from the community in writing the Cultural Master Plan as well as those organizations and people who participated decision to continue meeting to ensure that ideas and action items in the CMP are acted upon.  We would like to thank Lisa Plancke (CMP Project Leader) for her dedication and hard work on the project. SDAC is proud of the legacy this project will create in our community. After reading this document, we hope you feel energized and excited about the Arts and our Community.

Download the entire CMP (Adobe Acrobat 728k)
Download the Needs Assessment Survey (Adobe Acrobat 1.5M)