On June 26, the Key City Theatre Society (KCTS) brought together local partners and stakeholders to discuss replacement of the theatre once a new Mount Baker Secondary School (MBSS) is announced.

Since 2008, the School District No. 5 (SD5) Board of Education has been working on replacement of MBSS as a Neighbourhood Learning Centre (NLC), an initiative designed to bring educational services and community resources together in a new high school building.

The process began with extensive public consultations with the community that led to the determination that Key City Theatre should be a main community component within a replacement MBSS/NLC.

Since that time, the school district and theatre have formally partnered with the City of Cranbrook and have worked closely with Rob Gay, Electoral Area C Director and Chair of the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) on theatre replacement.

The school district continues to work closely with Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett toward securing replacement of Mount Baker.

According to SD5 Trustee Chris Johns who is both the Mount Baker Replacement Committee and KCTS chair, while it is unknown when the Ministry of Education will approve the school’s replacement, it’s important that the theatre be ready to move ahead with its own replacement plans when approval finally happens. And that means planning needs to begin now.

“The purpose of the meeting was to bring our partners and stakeholders up to date on the work being done by the Key City Theatre Board moving forward,” said Johns, adding that Cranbrook Mayor Lee Pratt, RDEK Board Chair Gay, RDEK Chief Financial Officer Shawn Tomlin and representation from MLA Bill Bennett’s office were in attendance. Also in attendance were representatives from the SD5 Board, District and MBSS administration, and KCT Board.

KCT Manager Galen Olstead brought the partners and stakeholders up to speed with a presentation on the demographics of theatre-goers and the increased activity Key City has seen in both Theatre-hosted performances and those booked by outside agencies.

Discussion then turned to strategic planning. According to Johns, the Theatre Society will use grant monies to bring in experienced theatre consultants Bruce Halliday and Sandra Thompson to help the KCTS Board develop a replacement strategy.

“We need to determine the type of theatre that will best serve the East Kootenay and broader area in the future and we need to identify opportunities to engage our communities, businesses and major industries in fundraising going forward.”

Johns adds that the 2016 – 2017 theatre season marks KCT’s 25th anniversary and in 2017 Canada celebrates its 150th birthday. “Both of these milestones should provide ample opportunity for Key City Theatre and our partners to increase engagement.”

SD5

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