An arts program that was forced to shut down after the roof of the Fairview Arena collapsed earlier this year hosted a block party on Monday to welcome back artists and supporters.

The Indefinite Arts Centre was housed in a building attached to the arena, located in the 8000 block of Fairmount Drive S.E., and was closed after a section of the roof above the rink fell in on February 20.

“Fortunately for us, we didn’t actually have a lot of structural damage in our side of the facility. It was mostly cosmetic, there were a few things that were shaken up after the roof collapsed just because of the sheer nature of the collapse but not a lot since then has actually happened as far as a rebuild for us but that might change,” said Jung-Suk Ryu, CEO Indefinite Arts Centre

The organization assists artists who have developmental disabilities and also offers classes and workshops to children and families.

“For us this is huge. For our artists, this has been their home. For some of our artists, they’ve been part of our program for more than 20 years so to actually return to a place that’s familiar to them, to start off where they left off on their art pieces, it’s incredibly meaningful for them and it’s incredibly meaningful for our organization,” said Ryu.

The centre is Canada’s oldest and largest disability arts organization and officials say plans are in the works to create an arts hub.

“We’re looking at this as an opportunity to actually look at the entire site that we occupy, through the City of Calgary, and imagining a much more, lively, art campus, if you will, that would be purpose built for persons living with disabilities,” Ryu said. “The vision is around creating a multidisciplinary arts hub where people are able to create works and also enjoy works done by artists with disabilities.”

On Monday, a block party was held to welcome back artists, supporters and area residents and organizers also unveiled plans for the new National accessArts Centre

“Our artists are seeing true change in their lives as a result of starting a new chapter as artists and so we hope to expand that opportunity to many more in Calgary and beyond,” said Ryu.

Officials say the National accessArts Centre will be similar in style to the Banff Centre and will be North America's first multidisciplinary arts hub.

For more information on Indefinite Arts, click HERE.