After three years of searching for a home for her acting school, a Lakeshore woman is opening the Lakeshore Arts Centre.
Sarah Ilijanich operated the Lakeshore Academy of Fine Arts out of the Puce Sports and Leisure Centre before it was closed in 2014.
She now has an agreement in principal with the Diocese of London to purchase the church and rectory of the former St. Williams Church on Faith Dr.
"I've been fighting and working hard, and I am so happy that we've found the right place and we have a great team behind us and the council made a wonderful decision ," says Ilijanich.
Lakeshore Town Council approved the zoning amendment for the centre at last night's council meeting. The amendment still needs to go through an appeal period but Ilijanich hopes to have the centre up and running in 30-60 days.
"I want to create an arts hub. We want to have music and drama and yoga and all kinds of stuff, theatre shows, but it would be really great to have an events centre there too," says Ilijanich.
The Diocese will retain ownership of the St. William's cemetery and an easement will be created to allow public access to the site.
