Capital Campaign Update
Thank You
This April marks the conclusion of our 2016 – 2019 Capital Campaign. Our sincere thanks to the generous individuals, businesses, foundations, and agencies who contributed and supported this campaign to help us raise more than 1.2 million dollars.
Quick History
In the spring of 2016, we quietly embarked on a Capital Campaign to undergo extensive lobby renovations and replace aging seating and equipment.
Theatre Seating Update
With lead support from the Government of Canada, in the summer of 2016, we were able to replace the existing refurbished seats in our Mainstage Theatre and begin to lay the groundwork for our lobby renovations.
Our previous seats were donated to the Canadian College of Performing Arts so that they could outfit their performance space and produce more work on site.
Lobby Update
At the conclusion of the 2016 – 2017 Season we moved our box office and administrative offices offsite so that we could begin to renovate and upgrade our twenty-seven-year-old lobby.
The space was enlarged considerably (within our existing footprint) and major improvements were made to ensure the space was as accessible as possible. We also expanded our washrooms, box office and our concession / bar.
Our lead partners for the lobby renovations were the Bruce and Nicki MacKenzie family and the Government of Canada.
Lighting Room Update
While not originally set for this Capital Campaign, a small fire in our lighting room in May 2018 meant that we had to replace our lighting control system to continue operations.
Ironically, our fire suppression system (sprinklers) caused more damage than the actual fire and we had to replace flooring in many parts (dressing rooms, wardrobe department) of the basement.
BMO Studio Theatre Update
In 2019, with lead support from the BMO Financial Group, the Province of British Columbia (via the Gaming Branch) and our Chair Emeritus Patrick Stewart, we were able to make extensive changes to our smaller second performance space / rehearsal hall.
We installed theatre seating (replacing the chairs that may have originally been designed by Torquemada) and redesigned the theatre risers to allow for greater comfort and to give us the ability to change the space over (from theatre to rehearsal hall and vice versa) with greater ease and efficiency.
In this final stage we also were able to start the process of replacing our aged lighting control systems and adding new projection technology, allowing us to be ready for the next generation of lighting and sound equipment.
Future Campaigns
Our future campaigns will focus on equipment upgrades and the ongoing maintenance of our 132-year-old heritage building.
Learn more
If you would like to learn more about our Capital Campaign or our naming opportunities (a part of the building or even just a seat in the theatre) please contact Susan Stevenson, our Director of Development at 250-385-6835 ext.229 or susan.stevenson@belfry.bc.ca