As Lethbridge continues to grow at a steady pace, a group of residents say they believe the city is in desperate need of a new performing arts centre.
Currently, the only spaces dedicated to performing arts are the University of Lethbridge Theatre and the Yates Theatre, both of which are facing capacity issues.
A group calling itself the Performing Arts Centre Advocacy Group is now lobbying for a new cultural space.
“The Yates has been a great space for many theatre groups in our community for a long time and that’s fantastic,” Derek Stevenson, general manager of New West Theatre, said. “But the problem is, is that it’s booked at capacity all year long. A new group or groups trying to start something up would be impossible.”
Stevenson said he believes that in past years, there has been a heavy emphasis on sports and recreation facilities and that over time, it’s only fair to put an emphasis on arts and culture facilities.
“We did need a leisure centre and that’s the thing – it’s not we need one thing and not another,” he said. “We need everything to have a large and flourishing community and the leisure centre is going to be great and there was a need for that. But, there is that same need for a performing arts centre too.”
The group said some residents are confused that CASA was meant to be the new performing arts space – but that’s not the case.
“It’s not designed for dance or drama or orchestra or anything else,” group member Shaun Ward said. “It’s simply a very useful building in our community as a replacement for the Bowman Arts Centre.”
Mayor Chris Spearman said city council is seeing a lot of community organizations in need of funding ahead of the next Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).
“It’s going to be a particularly challenging CIP because we’re starting with next to nothing – $5 million,” Spearman said. “It’s not going to fund any of the significant wants in this community.”
The performing arts centre will be discussed before city council in the fall. Until then, the advocacy group said they will continue to gather support.
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