It won't be paintbrushes on canvas but rather rollers on wooden floors that will be taking place in a section of the MacLaren Art Centre in downtown Barrie this week.
The upper levels and exhibitions at the Mulcaster Street art gallery will be closed to the public beginning today (March 27) as crews complete the final sanding and refinishing of the floors, and while staff work on the final stages of renovations that were needed as a result of a Jan. 17 flood.
“This is a sort of final light sand and then coating that goes on at the very end of the process, so it was allowed to cure for a little while and now they’re doing a final finish layer on top. It won’t take as long as the other stages,” explained MacLaren executive director Lisa Daniels.
Crews were at the downtown gallery working on Monday, noted Daniels, adding after they are done, the floors will need to cure for approximately three days before they can be walked on gently, which is why the upstairs area will remain closed to the public until Saturday, April 1.
All of the centre’s programs will continue to run, with the exception of one — participants of which have already been notified.
“The general operations, the programs, the cafe … all of that is still going on,” she said.
Daniels noted the plan was always to refinish the floors in the Carnegie Room and atrium areas on the upper level, a process which was ultimately delayed due to a minor flood in January.
“The whole process has just been prolonged because we had to stop and deal with the flood issues, and then go back to the floor refinishing. The flood only occurred in a portion of the Carnegie (Room), not the whole upstairs at all, but all of those areas, the intention was always to refinish those floors," she said.
Daniels told BarrieToday she's grateful for the patience of both the public and the artists whose exhibitions were disrupted.
“We have extended the two exhibitions upstairs by a week, just to accommodate the three weeks of closures," she said. "We are thankful to them for their understanding and patience and really hope the public comes back on Saturday to see the beautiful floors and all of the exhibitions that are up there.”
