The 110th birthday party for the Monarch Theatre will go ahead this weekend.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
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The Monarch Theatre’s 110th birthday party will proceed this weekend with the doors of the historic theatre open for a matinee and cake for those who take-in the Holiday-themed double feature.
Discussions to hold the drop-in event, marking the movie house’s original opening night on Dec. 18, 1911, have moved quickly since they were first discussed in council this month.
The Friends of the Monarch in conjunction with the city’s cultural development department will host a come-and-go function on Saturday.
“There are a lot of people in Medicine Hat who see the Monarch as a very important entertainment facility,” said Judy Morris, a director with the society that has raised money and provided volunteer base to the theatre over the past decade. “There’s an ambience there.”
On Dec. 18, the main screen will feature Christmas movies – “Elf” at 1 p.m., followed by a selection of cartoons, then “Miracle on 34th Street” to close out the event which ends at 5 p.m.
The province’s “restriction exemption program” will be in effect and the general public will be asked to provide proof of vaccination at the door before entry.
The theatre has been dark since late May when it was purchased by the city from the former owner City Centre Development Agency as its operations wound down. The members voted earlier in the spring to dissolve the provincially regulated business improvement district entity and disperse its assets.
The city’s stated goal was to ease the process and help maintain local ownership with an eventual lease or sale. Since then it’s been maintained by the city’s building services wing, but administrators say work has not yet proceeded on a final marketing plan.
