As was announced at the last AGM, Theatre Kent is moving. Now that the paperwork has been signed, we can now give you more details.
We are moving from our current location on Victoria Ave. to St. Andrew’s United Church at 85 William Street South in Chatham.
Why the move?
Living Faith Community Church unfortunately needed to sell their building. They have found a new owner who has now taken possession.
Why the delay in announcing?
As a tenant, we were given notice that the building was going up for sale. As a courtesy to the Living Faith church, we held off on any initial moving announcement until they had time to inform their congregation. Also, we did not want to make any announcement of our intended new home until negotiations with St. Andrew’s were complete and the necessary documents were signed.
Why St. Andrew’s?
We have rented the Fellowship Hall at St. Andrew’s before for musical rehearsals. So being familiar with who we are, when they had some space become available to rent, they reached out to us to discuss possible uses.
Remembering our struggles to both produce shows and search for a new home after we lost the building on Stanley, we definitely didn’t want to be without a home again. Also, as anyone who has been looking lately, affordable real estate in the area is very limited. Especially for a non-profit group such as ourselves.
The timing worked out and the proposal was agreeable, so we will be able to keep operating with minimal disruption.
Can we not stay where we are?
As the new owner is operating the building as a commercial business, that means they must now pay property taxes and charge taxes. They are also investing heavily into the building to renovate it.
Also, it is a business, and they need to charge rent that will make it a sustainable property and recover the cost of their investment.
The owner did offer to let us stay, but as a non-profit with limited income, it was just not feasible financially for us to pay the new rates.
When is this happening?
The agreement officially starts December 1st, but we will be able to start moving some items during the month of November.
How will this impact this season’s shows?
Mamma Mia, which had been rehearsing at St. Andrew’s and All That Jazz under a separate agreement, continued as normal. When they moved into the Capitol Theatre for their show, they picked up all of their set pieces, props, costumes, etc. from the current location. When the show was completed, they moved everything they used to St. Andrew’s. This represented a considerable portion of our inventory.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, will finish off rehearsals at the current location (which will finish at the end of November) and move into the Kiwanis Theatre the first week of December. They may need to pick up an item or two from St. Andrew’s. When their show is complete, they will unload their items at St. Andrews.
The Dresser has started rehearsals at the current location. Then they will be moving to St. Andrew’s in December.
Calendar Girls will be 100% at St. Andrew’s.
What kind of space are we getting?
We will be getting four small rooms for use as storage and some limited work space. Those rooms are dedicated to our use.
We will be getting shared use of Fellowship Hall and its stage for rehearsals. This means we will need to book the hall in advance since other groups and the church will be also be using the hall. This is for rehearsal use only. If we want to use the hall for something else such as dinner theatre, we will need to pay the regular hall rental rate for those events.
Unlike our current space where we had our own entrance and we mostly had our end of the building to ourselves, St. Andrew’s will not be like that. We are in a space where the hallways, bathrooms, exterior doors, etc. are used by the church and other tenants (our storage rooms will be private). We will need to respectful of others and not keep items in the hallways and be mindful of the security of the building and prevent outsiders from gaining access to the building.
What about all of our stuff?
As mentioned above, our first two shows of the season will be moving a large portion of our items as part of their show. They will load up at the current location and then after the performances they will unload at St. Andrew’s.
We will also be doing some clean up and purging of items. What will be remaining at the current location will be moved over in November. We will put out a call for help as plans come together.
The move and purge is being coordinated by our Technical Director, Gene Lusk. The appropriate stakeholders, including the appropriate production members of the current season of shows, will be consulted on what needs to be kept.
The storage space at St. Andrew’s will be smaller than our current space, so some reduction of items must occur. Firstly, junk such as broken or gross items (think ‘used makeup items’) will be purged. Secondly, any items not needed at St. Andrew’s, such as regular chairs, bathroom supplies, etc. will not be moved. Then finally, some of our least used items will be purged.
Items that still have some value/use will be offered up to our membership, schools, and other community groups. We will also consider donating any unwanted items to the usual thrift/reuse stores.
You may see some items that may make you wonder why we are getting rid of them. Understand that we have very limited space and some sacrifices will be need to be made. If you really feel passionately about something, you are welcome to offer to take it home with you.
Going Forward
More information will likely present itself as the weeks and months go by. Technical details of the hall/stage and the general use of the building will be drafted and shared with all new production teams in the future.
We thank you for your patience and understanding.