With the proposal deadline for the Civic Theatre looming at the end of this month, the group of community members dedicated to restoring it have been hard at work.
“It’s a very ambitious project, there’s no doubt about it,” said Cindy Sherry, a member of the Civic Theatre group.
“Our group believes that Nelson will have a home-grown theatre to entertain and hopefully inspire the community.”
Sherry said they’ve managed to form a well-rounded group of volunteers to help realize their goal.
“We feel very lucky with the people who have come forward with their expertise… We have people with backgrounds in finance, small business, theatre operations, communications, fundraising, architecture and design and cultural development.”
Recently, the group took a tour of the Civic Theatre to assess the work needed.
Sherry said there were “no surprises” through the process.
“The whole lobby area needs quite a bit of work, the ticket booth, concession and bathrooms will all need to be updated and fixed up.”
Next, the group plans to send two representatives to meet with the operators of the non-profit theatre in Salmon Arm.
“We’re hoping to find out operation costs and get some insight into their business model. We basically want to form a stronger bond with them because they’ve offered their support and they’ve been doing it for 65 years as a non-profit society,” said Sherry.
“They’re going to be very helpful I think to get us up and running again.”
In addition, Sherry said the architecture and design team have been meeting with the city building inspector.
“We are obviously working towards the May 31 deadline. It’s tight but we’re going to do our best to put together a strong, sustainable vision for the space as a cinema with the potential for complementary uses such as live performances,” said Sherry.
“If we get the approval then there’s a lot of work to be done, but we’re certainly an enthusiastic, hard working group and we’ve got a great deal of collective skill, expertise and we know we’re up to the task.”
Sherry said the community has been very supportive and they’re encouraging communication between the group and the community on what they would like to have.
Those looking to give feedback to the group can visit facebook.com/nelsonCTS.