Lyric Theatre announces Give a Sheet building renovation campaign
Swift Current’s iconic Lyric Theatre needs sheets of love from the community for important building renovations to allow it to reopen.
The installation of a large number of fire-resistant drywall panels will be a key part of the renovations and the organization is therefore referring to the fundraising initiative as the Give a Sheet for the Lyric campaign. The details of the fundraising campaign were formally announced Nov. 7. The goal is to raise $250,000 with public and corporate support.
“We’re so excited about today finally coming around, because this means we can get things started, we can get reopened, we can get back to producing shows and doing the things that we do best,” board member Bob Jamieson said. “We do consider ourselves the heart of the performing arts in Swift Current, because it’s been here forever.”
The Lyric Theatre has been an integral part of the community since 1912. It originally hosted vaudeville shows and silent movies. The upper level of the building was used as an isolation hospital during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918.
Church services were held in the building during the early years, it hosted pet and poultry shows, dance classes, a pool room, a bowling alley and it was a popular movie house from 1955-1979. In the 1980s it became a location for several nightclubs and it was also a venue for literary cafes.
The Southwest Cultural Development Group was formed in 2005 with the goal to convert the building into a cultural community centre. The theatre reopened in 2006 and in 2007 it was officially designated a municipal heritage property.
It has become a venue for drama and
theatre, musical performances, comedy shows and a variety of public and community events. Regular activities in the building include Write Out Loud, Open Stage, and Youth Talent Night.
The theatre closed temporarily in late May due to the need for fire and safety upgrades. A lot of planning has taken place since then in preparation for the start of renovations. P3 Architecture, the firm that did the initial designs and plans for theatre renovations four years ago, prepared a renovation plan in close collaboration with the City of Swift Current and the Swift Current Fire Department.
The work will be done in a three-phase process. The $250,000 is required to purchase building materials, especially a lot of fire-resistant drywall sheets as well as regulation fire doors, and to pay for qualified labour needed for installation work.
The intention is to reopen the theatre for public events after the initial phase of renovations. Board Chair Georgia Graham felt this will be feasible, because the work during the first phase will concentrate on the main floor.
“It is very much about drywall, because the whole back staircase needs to be
completely drywalled and there’s a projector room above where the bar is that needs to be drywalled and sealed off,” she said. “And then just a couple openings where they’ve put new furnace ducts or sprinkler lines through and things like that. Phase two touches more on the basement and just kind of tidying up and finishing a couple things down there. Phase three moves more into starting to look at the upstairs.”
If the phase one work can get under way in the near future, then it might be possible to reopen the theatre early in the new year.
“We’ve had drywallers in there checking it out, making measurements, getting ready to roll,” Jamieson said. “We’re ready to go with that and as soon as we get that completed, we hope that we’re able to reopen and then do phase two and three.”
Stew Tasche has already supported the fundraising campaign and emphasized the importance of this initiative.
“I look at things in two categories,” he said. “There are things that you can’t afford as a person or as a city, and there are things that you can’t afford to lose. This is something that Swift Current can’t afford to lose.”
He has performed as a musician on the Lyric stage and his musical The Cypress Hills would never be the Same played to sold out audiences in 2015 and 2017.
“I just appreciate the theatre so much from having performed there, having the play there, watching all these groups that have come through from all across Canada and some wonderful musicians,” he said. “They walk away from here and they say that’s one of the best venues that they’ve ever played at. There’s something special there and we can’t afford to lose it.”
Local musician Denise Wall, who was a board member for 13 years and also served as board president, agreed there is a special energy on the Lyric stage.
“There’s a special sound,” she said. “The sound bounces off the walls like no other place.”
She added that previous fundraising efforts made it possible to complete a lot of necessary renovation work and the work to be done now is a continuation of that process.
“A lot of people don’t realize what had to go into that to actually save the building and make sure that it’s standing for another 100 years,” she said. “Each stage after that was just what was required next. It was what had to be done and this was the next stage. COVID derailed it and I’m glad that it’s on track now again.”
The Give a Sheet for the Lyric campaign provides several donation options, based on the cost of a drywall sheet. A donation of $25 will purchase one drywall sheet, $100 will buy four sheets, $250 can get 10 sheets and $1,000 will buy 40 sheets. A receipt for tax purposes will be issued to all donations of $20 or more.
Donations can be made online on the Lyric Theatre website (www.lyrictheatre. ca) or by directly contacting the theatre at thelyrictheatre@gmail.com