Politicians brought Aurora one step closer to the creation of a cultural centre Tuesday night.

“I couldn’t be more excited. This has been years in the making,” Mayor Phyllis Morris said.

“Aurora has a wonderful history. Now we have a building to showcase it.”

In an 8-1 vote, with Councillor Evelyn Buck being the sole opponent, council approved the Aurora Heritage Centre business plan.

The business plan allows the town to create a non-profit corporation to deliver arts and culture programs.

Council hopes the corporation will eventually be self-sufficient and raise its own revenue.

Ms Buck, however, has doubts this would happen.

“I don’t buy the argument that they can raise $200,000 by tapping local businesses for sponsorships. There is a limit to how much tapping should be done on local businesses,” she said in a phone interview yesterday morning.

According to the business plan, the non-profit corporation will raise $200,000 by the fifth year or 2013.

“I don’t think the financial forecast is realistic,” Ms Buck argued.

The town already employs people who try to raise funds through endorsements and sponsorships for arts and cultural events, she added.

The centre’s offerings are exciting enough to draw people and to justify “the additional burden on taxpayers”, Ms Buck said, in response to a presentation about what the centre could offers.

The centre will offer creative arts and heritage programming including drawing, painting, spoken word and literary arts, ceramics, textiles and music, said Brian Arnott of Novita Interpares Limited, the company council appointed to prepare a heritage centre business plan.

The heritage programming will include social history of Europeans, aboriginals and other cultures as well as archaeological heritage, architectural and commercial and industrial heritage, Mr. Arnott said.

“This does not excite me,” Ms Buck responded.

Besides, the Aurora Public Library did not get an increase in its budget this year, she said, adding the town should not put money toward new projects when it isn’t adequately funding existing facilities.

Aurora’s arts and cultural centre will be housed in the historic building at 22 Church St. Two parking lots separate the building from the back entrance of the library.

The town wanted to create an independently run corporation so it would eventually be self-sufficient, self-funding and prevent the creation of any sort of burden on the taxpayer, Mayor Morris said.

The town would offer intial startup funding, but then pull back and let it run itself.

The town will provide $340,000 in 2009 for staff, benefits and administrative costs, plus $143,000 in anticipated annual operating costs, as well as a start-up grant of $50,000, which has to be matched by other forms of funding.

The centre’s name will change from Aurora Heritage Centre to Church Street School Cultural Centre.