The Monarch Theatre has been sold to the City of Medicine Hat, which will seek out a new operator and owner, according to officials speaking after the purchase was announced Monday night.--News Photo Collin Gallant
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
The last picture show at the Monarch Theatre was Godzilla vs. Kong – at least for the next little while.
The theatre on Second Street was sold Monday by the City Centre Development Agency to the City of Medicine Hat, which put together a late-hour offer before the CCDA dissolves next week.
Last weekend it reopened for shows after health restrictions lifted with good crowds for the monster movie, according to CCDA operations manager Trish Richards, who also confirmed all planned showings this week and next are cancelled.
City administrators say the theatre will remain dark after the sale closes June 25, at which point administrators will begin determining how operations will move forward, likely under a contracted operator or another owner.
“This approach will allow the required time to ensure the future of the Monarch is carefully considered,” said city head of corporate service, Dennis Egert, in a statement.
“Ultimately both parties (city and the CCDA) want to see the theatre be successful and remain a notable part of downtown.”
CCDA board chair Jeremy Silver released a statement Tuesday saying the board had no real alternative but to accept the sale since the body is set to dissolve June 30.
He thanked the business and greater community for supporting the theatre over the years and “appreciated the efforts of the city to ensure the legacy of this iconic theatre lives on.”
The city itself has no plans to operate the theatre in the immediate term, but will examine options, including a resale or maintaining the theatre with a tenant or contracted operator.
Mayor Ted Clugston said the city taking over the property ensured it wouldn’t be surrendered to the province at the conclusion of the CCDA wind-down in fewer than 10 days. It also allows the city to garner local interest in an owner and operator, rather than perhaps the space on a rejuvenated Second Street remaining vacant or as an investment by out-of-town institutional investors.
That potential local owner and operator will likely not be the Friends of the Monarch Society, according to the head of the group that lends volunteers to the theatre and raises money for renovations.
President Matt Klimaszewski told the News that creating its own bid to operate the theatre was discussed by the society recently, but members declined.
“We were founded to assist the operation and really wouldn’t have the wherewithal,” he told the News on Tuesday.
Klimaszewski says the sale to the city took him by surprise. CCDA officials briefed him earlier this month when it was still planning its own request-for-proposals process to operate the theatre.
“It sounds like there will be a middle man now, but it’s the same plan, just it might take a little longer,” he said.
CCDA operations manager Trish Richards, hired just six weeks ago, said it was sad to see the theatre go dark and that the short schedule leaves the future uncertain.
“It needs to remain operating as a theatre, but it’s got so much potential as a community hub and other sorts of events,” she said.
A letter from the CCDA to members in early June stated they had received several inquiries about the theatre, but would direct them to an upcoming request for proposals process that is now cancelled.
“There was some hope that we could continue to operate (the theatre) after (the dissolution), but that would have opened the board members to liability,” said Richards. “That was the legal advice we received. So the offer was accepted.”
The board must officially conclude the business of the operation by June 30, then turn over a final accounting to city finance officials, who are designated under the Municipal Government Act.
