Fresh start

Regent Theatre receives $500,000 in grants toward renovation and expansion project

Regent Theatre board members (L-R) Alan Whiteley, Peter Blendell (kneeling) Jane Moon, Dewey Larratt-Smith and Bob Schroen.

It was a tumultuous year for the Regent Theatre and its volunteer board—but 2010 is ending on a very positive note. Indeed the board received an early Christmas present last week—learning that the venerable old theatre is receiving a federal grant worth $245,000.

This new money coupled with three other recently announced grants enables the board to give the green light to a $500,000 project to renovate and refurbish the 89- year-old theatre.

“We’ve been waiting a long time for news on this grant application,” said board member Dewey Larratt-Smith “As time went and we didn’t hear any word—we grew more doubtful that it would come our way.”

It was just last month that Larratt-Smith and her fellow board members survived a confidence vote—albeit by a wide margin—ending a bitter outcry that followed the dismissal of the theatre’s general manager Sharon Jarvis and the subsequent departure of her husband Michael Reason as a volunteer at the theatre earlier in the summer.

Now the Regent Board is celebrating the confirmation of a Canada Cultural Spaces grant worth $245,000. Last week’s news caps a series of recent funding commitments received by the theatre in recent months including: $130,000 from the Parrott Foundation, $99,800 from the Trillium Fund and $25,000 from Prince Edward Lennox and A d d i n g t o n Community Futures D e v e l o p m e n t Corporation.

The money will be used to expand the theatre capacity and revenue opportunity, enhance accessibility and improve the theatregoing experience.

Some of the funds have been earmarked for phase one—new accessible washrooms and work needed to ensure compliance with the fire code. But now with the Cultural Spaces funding the Regent board can proceed with the full renovation project which features expanding the hall by about 100 seats including spaces for wheelchairs.

Designed by architect Brian Clark, the renovation and expansion will see the steep ramp between the lobby and the theatre removed.

“It will be a dramatic change,” said Larratt-Smith, “but done in keeping the historical integrity of the theatre in mind. It will be very exciting.”

Work begins at the beginning of January and must be completed by the end of March. Clark has developed the plans for both phases of the project in anticipation that the federal funding would arrive in time. Similarly, contractor Peter Knudson has been preparing for the full project— reasoning that it would be easier to scale back than scale up in a shorter time frame.

“We’ve plowed this kind of money into the theatre in the past,” said Larratt-Smith, “but on repairs, not in improving the theatregoers’ experience. It is hard to get excited about a new drain—this investment will be visible to everyone.” The addition of about 100 new seats means the theatre can work to improve profitability through increased revenue but can also draw events it could never have done before. The economics improve dramatically for live shows, movies as well as its popular closed circuit events such as Live from the Met.

But the challenges don’t end here for the Regent board. The theatre will be closed for the next three months as renovations take place.

“We will not have a revenue stream coming in for these three months,” said Larratt-Smith. “So we have formed a sponsorship committee that will be going out to the community to raise funds to enable us to pay our bills and our mortgage for the next few months as we renovate.”

Furthermore, the capital funding grants the Regent has received won’t cover the cost of replacing the existing seats in the theatre.

So the work of the Regent board must be ramped up. More volunteers are needed.

“This board has been incredible,” said Larratt-Smith. “When needed they pick up the vacuum and clean the place. It’s definitely a hands-on board. For us this funding confirmation has been a real breath of encouragement.”