Airdrie City council will allow the Bert Church Theatre (BCT) to begin negotiations with title owner of its facility, Rocky View Schools (RVS), in order to expand the arts centre.
Dennis Tinkler, BCT manager, made the impassioned presentation to council describing why theatre is important and the upgrades are required.
In 2004, RVS and BCT commissioned a report to address problem areas.
They were identified as the theatre entrance, washrooms, box offices, dressing rooms, rehearsal space and a patron lounge.
Over the years, the space has been converted to serve the needs of the community and the high school.
The original band room has been turned into a workout facility exclusively for the high school and the pre-performance staging area is now the high school cafeteria.
“This loss of revenue is primarily due to lack of support spaces,” said Tinkler.
“Many of our potential clients are turned away due to our inability to effectively stage events.”
Ald. Shawn Howard questioned how much space was needed.
He was the only alderman opposing Tinkler’s proposal to begin negotiations.
“We require as much support space as we can possibly get,” Tinkler said.
“The space is very, very tight.”
More than one third of all the 2009/10 theatre Professional Series performances were sold out, with 8,000 to 10,000 patrons passing through theatre doors.
