The City of New Westminster is getting prepared for its takeover of Massey Theatre.
With the city set to take ownership of Massey Theatre in 2020 and its commitment to having the Massey Theatre Society continue to operate the theatre, council has approved the formation of a working group that will advise the city how to develop this partnership.
On Monday, council released a resolution from a closed meeting that staff draw up terms of reference for a Massey Theatre working group that will include city staff, council and the Massey Theatre Society.
“What this resolution is really about saying is, we know that the transfer of ownership is going to happen likely at some point in the upcoming year, but there are a lot of details in terms of how the city is going to be working with the Massey Theatre Society and how the theatre is going to be governed under the new ownership,” said Mayor Jonathan Cote. “We thought now is the appropriate time to start engaging and having those conversations so we don’t run into problems once the city does take over ownership.”
The city could have chosen to operate the theatre, but recognized the important work done by the society through the decades and felt it was best positioned to continue operating the theatre, Cote said.
While it had originally been contemplated that the school district would build a new 1,000-seat theatre in the new high school and demolish Massey Theatre, the city reached an agreement in principle with the province and the school district in 2016 that would see it assume ownership of the existing 1,260-seat theatre. As part of that agreement, the existing theatre and the land under the building would be gifted to the city by the school district.
Members of the local theatre community were thrilled with the decision to retain the theatre, which is considered by many to be a “cultural gem” and a key venue for the performing arts in New Westminster.
Cote said no specific date has been determined for the transfer of ownership of Massey Theatre from the school district to the city.
“It’s really anticipated to be timed with the opening of the new school and the process of decommissioning the old school,” he said. “We would anticipate it at some point in the fall but an exact date hasn’t been determined yet.”
The agreement reached between the city, the province and the school board in 2016 stated the Ministry of Education would finance the demolition of the existing Massey gymnasium and reconstruction of the theatre's exterior wall.
“The city is still working through the process about exactly what the renovation of the theatre will be,” Cote said. “Originally we were definitely focused on the theatre. We are going to be exploring potential options of maybe also retaining the gym. Having said that, we have not made the decision whether that’s the case or not.”
Cote said it’s still the city’s expectation that the province would honour its commitment of assisting with the demolition of that portion of the building, if that’s the decision that’s made.
“We know there is heavy demand for recreational space in the community,” he said. “We want to get a better understanding of some of the construction numbers, numbers to renovate that building, cost implications and what value it would add, both to our parks and recreation department but also potentially some other community aspects. Those are all factors that we are going to want to consider in that decision.”
The City of New Westminster’s 2020 to 2024 capital plan includes $16.5-million for Massey Theatre. Cost estimates are currently being prepared based on a few options and upgrades, with renovation work to be done in stages that will extend beyond this five-year capital plan.
“We are still working through what components have to be done sooner rather than later. Exactly how it will be phased in, what work needs to be done at what time is still something the city is working through,” Cote said. “We do recognize that that theatre does need quite a bit of work, particularly if we want to be operating it in the long-term, so we need to start making those phased investments in the theatre to ensure it can continue to serve New Westminster the way it has for the past 60 years.”
