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:0 - mu moutmroNit u - mam-sad» News.» 4 JUN d K ' th ° 2 eeplng e (31111211118 open . I C Local groups are coming together to stop closure of ng Street Theatre Centre BY JENNIFER Oms‘mN , ‘mik 'TT She said it's important to keep the the H #7” irfi’fl‘vnu‘h‘ssmflwfiii W 1l atre centre afloat becaUse it's ti flexible space with seating that can be moved to Una] arts organizations are rallying â€" accommodate various theatre arrange ogether m an unprecmiented attempt to merits and up to 400 people save an area theatre from closure “ There's no venue of its size in this area." lhe debt-ridden lung Street lheatre ' a she stud. referring to the Registry Theatre. (.entre plans to close its curtains for the last » which can accommodate 145 people. and time at the end of l-ebruary the l,b()0~seat (Ientre in the Square But that's only if this coalition of local ’ ‘ There‘s a pretty big gap iii-between supporters doesn't meet its objective, there. “(Our goal is) lust to keep the place run- ,3; ‘L ‘ 4‘ ‘ , “And it's the perfect sue for several ning and hopping with activity," said Kath- T} _ . _ - " groups in the area" leen Sheehy. one of lost and Found The Z; . The Kitchener-Waterloo Children's atre's foundingartists. ’ J. Drama Workshop is just one of those “As a member of the arts community. I " ~ _ " groups, think it would be a travesty for it not to con» 5 i' . It had planned to put on The Rise and tmueasaperforming ans venue." ' " . , « Fall (and Risei of Humpty Dumpty there In an attempt to keep the theatre doors ' starting at the beginning of March. open, this group of 15 or so arts organizaâ€" “They were closing the day before we (ions is encouraging the public to write let- _ _ ,, were due to go in. so we had to really scmmr ters to the editors of local newspapers, con- -»£¥‘F » ble," said Leslie (Tail Hill, who founded the tact city and regional councillors, attend _ ' J 4, “5‘ ‘ ‘” drama group, ans events. support local groups with dona- * i ' A. ~ ”if f.» ' I. in addition to finding a new venue. this tions and join a new Facebook group called _- ‘ j*r' ' ’ change has cost the group a lot of money. Save the King Street Theatre. - 7, l"“v , , l They’ve had to throw out thousands offlyers The theatre is also accepting proposals . g ' , ; $131,.- . l and posters, and have their tickets reprint until the middle of February regarding the , ' “‘5' 5523;; i ' ed. centre's future, A couple have already been ‘ 7 ‘1” .3) “it's not their fault. They have to close. submitted, including one by the Waterloo A a? they can't keep going if they're losing that Regional Children's Museum to keep the , £ a . much money." Hill said. adding local facility running as an interim solution, " . .1‘ I, municipalities and townships should have The King Street Theatre Centre â€" located ; ‘ stepped in with funding. beside the Children‘s Museum in downtown ‘ ‘ _ Hutton understands the groups frustraâ€" ‘ Kitchener â€" was the home of Theatre and ‘, tions. but his response remains the same: a Company from 2001 to 2008. _ - concrete business plan for the next three to At that time the production company ”- 9' five years needs to be proposed. closed due to mounting financial difficul- , ” 1‘ g V . “Really what someone needs is a good ties. y K -' ~_ -\ financial backer who would be able to back Their debt â€" which currently sits at 1 - f ‘ it for about a year, year and a half. and then somewhere between $600,000 and $700,000 , V they would probably be able to make the â€" is now being carried by the theatre cen» centre run sufficiently on its own,” he said. tre. adding a $250,000 subsidy would have “Our biggest issue right now is the cash allowed him to operate the centre with a flow if we had enough cash to operate for profit another year. I'm pretty confident we would That size of donation would receive a tax be able to run this space and make a profit," receipt. said Brad Hutton, the theatres general man» ' “The interesting thing that i find frustrat- ager, ing in some ways is we don't have difficulty “We're carrying a debt from Theatre and giving money to sports arenas or building Company. and with that we need to be ‘ new arenas. but we have a difficult time almost full every single day and every funding the artsâ€" and that. to me. isjust an week," unfonunate situation.” It costs $30,000 each month, including Sh‘eehy, meanwhile. remains hopeful the debt load. to run the theatre, that this grassroots campaign will save the Although lost and Found doesn‘t put on theatre. productions at the King Street Theatre ('en- "i think that if we can convince the local tre, Sheehy, a former member ofTheatre governments and the general public and and Company, feels a strong connection to hopefully some philanthropists that this the facility, arts group coalition can make this place a "I put a lot into building that building possibility in terms ofcontinuingtp run it as and I‘d hate to see it become something an even more exciting centre for the arts else. especially since this community than it has been since its creation. then we pulled together to raise $3,? million to build can do it," she said, it ~ they deserve to have it continue to be “But we‘re going to need people to come “h?“ it should have been instead "f having Many local arts supporters. including Lost and Found Theatre's Kathleen Sheehy, are raltying 0" board with “5 and we're going to “99d ‘_ ll turn into condos or a nightclub or together to save the King Street Theatre Centre from closure. some financial support â€" there's no ques- sUmC fool thing.” Iter onth more tion," â€"â€"â€"â€"__..__â€" i . ., THE, GREAT MYYSTER SALE - are ' S t 50°/ . a . ave up 0 o -- . t! ‘ ‘quusl‘ .n... ‘ . \l I\lll|$\|\l\'\l|ls'\\l\l{l\lllH\ll'|l\ ! a! ,; . :,_ \’\\\Il‘.l|(\| \Hltlll‘»\\l||\'l1iii I Ii - ~ ' AI JI'i‘i‘yxzj ‘ a -‘.- a. 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