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Future uncertain for the Battleford Opera House

Jan 10, 2017 | 6:13 AM

It seems discussion among the Battleford’s opera house committee has come to a standstill.

During a town council meeting, Jan. 9, chief administrative officer for the town, John Enns-Wind, said after a brief call with one of the remaining committee members he was told the group haven’t been active.

“They’ve talked and realized they don’t have a lot to talk about right now. They’re really waiting to hear what’s going to happen on the town’s end,” Enns-Wind said.

The committee dedicated to revitalizing the historic venue above town hall was formed a number of years ago, but have slowed down after losing all but two members.

Mayor Ames Leslie said the irony is the town has been waiting to hear from the committee.

“For the last four years we’ve been trying to get these people to give us an understanding of where we want to go with this, what the funding and platform they need to establish to build this place is,” Leslie said. “So the town and the board are kind of in a tough place because the direction of where this is supposed to go has been lost in translation, at best. The town doesn’t know what the next step is and the board doesn’t know what the next step is, and both are kind of looking at each other like ‘what do we do?’”

Leslie said he thinks the council and opera house committee need to come together to discuss the future of the space and come to an understanding of what the next step is.

Enns-Wind pointed out plans regarding the rehabilitation of town hall, including the opera house, was included in the upcoming 2017 budget. Budget deliberations are continuing within council and public discussions take place in the coming weeks.

The opera house sitting atop town hall was originally built in 1912 and destroyed by a fire in 1965.

 

Katherine Svenkeson is a reporter with battlefordsNOW. She can be reached at katherine.svenkeson@jpbg.ca or on Twitter @ksvenkeson.