DAVIDSON—Tired of doing the Davidson shuffle, the local dance club told town council recently it has found a permanent partner: the Herb Nelson Centre.
Members of the Davidson Optimist Dance Club were at council’s March 20 meeting seeking support for their proposal to convert the lower level of the Herb Nelson Centre into two dance studios.
For years, the Davidson Optimist Dance Club has held classes in church halls, school gyms and community buildings around town.
Club president Vonné Johnson said they have 80 dancers taking lessons from five different teachers, three nights a week in three different buildings from September to May.
However, sometimes the club finds itself without a place to dance due to funerals and other unscheduled events leaving the club scrambling to find another place to hold the evening’s class.
“This year has been a nightmare for scheduling,” dance club member Karen Dieno said.
Johnson said with a few renovations, the lower level of the Herb Nelson Centre could be converted into two studios. This would allow the dance club to hold all its lessons in one spot.
As part of the renovations, she suggested moving a room designated for the Legion from the back to the front of the building so one large room could be created.
“We think we can help each other,” Johnson said. “We need space and you have it.”
She added that the dance club would pay rent.
She said the studio rooms, which will be empty except for a dance floor, large mirror and ballet bar, could be used by others outside of dancing hours.
“I think we have to discuss this with the library first,” Mayor Mary Jane Morrison said.
Davidson branch of Palliser Regional Library occupies the main floor of the Herb Nelson Centre.
Noise was the major concern, librarian September Brooke told council.
She spoke to council after the dance club’s presentation.
“There’s going to be music and lots of kids,” she said, expressing concerns that young children would be upstairs in the library, “hanging out” while they waited for their class to begin.
Coun. Mandy Tichit, council’s representative on the library board, agreed, reminding council that people go to the library to have a quiet reading time.
In their pitch to council, the dance club had said they would instruct dancers to wait for classes downstairs.
Another potential concern with the dance club using the lower portion of the building was that the library would lose a room, if the Legion room is re-located, that it uses for special programs such as the summer reading program, story hour, or if a speaker comes in.
Coun. Clayton Schneider suggested the dance studio rooms could be used for the library’s programming.
He volunteered to mediate a meeting between the dance club and library board.
“It’s got to work for everybody,” he said.
Brooke told council that she thought the library board and dance club could work together.
To limit disruptions to library patrons, Brooke asked that the dance club use the building’s back door, which has a separate entrance from the library.
Council agreed to this request.
“We don’t want to make you guys uncomfortable,” Coun. Cliff Cross said.
“A meeting between the library board and dance club will take place soon.