Rex Theatre poised for revival

BY BENJAMIN SHINGLER

Ste. Anne de Bellevue’s director of recreation says there is a good chance the town will receive a government cultural grant to restore the Rex Theatre into a multipurpose arts venue.

After years of neglect, the iconic symbol in the centre of Ste. Anne Village is in disrepair, and badly needs a full-scale renovation. Even with a play currently running at Rex Theatre, the facility is far from suitable for regular use.

Daniel Leduc says the grant, applied for last May, would cover 60 per cent of the renovation project estimated at $2.7 million. The remaining money would come from businesses, individual donors, the town, or a combination of all three. Exactly what such an organization would look like is still unclear.

A lot of people in the area are interested in helping with the project, but as it stands, the Rex is without an organized group of backers.

“I guess we’re still waiting. But the whole community is definitely behind it,” said Ryan Young, environmental studies co-

ordinator at John Abbott College and a long-time proponent of restoring the Rex.

Young thinks a refurbished facility in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Ste. Anne’s sister city, is a good example to follow.

After Acadia Cinema in Wolfville closed in 2000, local residents formed the Acadia Cinema Cooperative to take control of the theatre.

There are more than 600 individual shareholders and backing from a local film society and coffee company. To date the cooperative has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The renovated 160-seat facility opened to the public in November 2004 and now regularly shows film and live performance.

“We’re lucky because Wolfville’s a great example, but on the other hand, we still have to do it,” said Ste. Anne Mayor Bill Tierney.

Tierney said Ste. Anne made the decision to purchase the building in 2000 with the hope that it would be able to control what happened to it.

“We didn’t want the Rex to simply turn into another bar or restaurant,” he said.

“Personally I see it as an opportunity because it’s a unique old building in the middle of town. But we have to do something soon before it decays any further.”

Meanwhile, Leduc is preparing a more comprehensive renovation plan to be unveiled this fall, and is hopeful it will be approved by winter 2008. He says if all goes well, renovations could be underway by fall 2008 and completed by spring 2009.翿