BONNYVILLE - The Clayton Bellamy Foundation has received news that it has been awarded a $500,000 Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP) grant. The group applied for the provincial grant to wrap up the Strathcona Performing Arts Centre project.
Additionally, the Town of Bonnyville has given first reading to a loan guarantee bylaw that will authorize the Town of Bonnyville to loan monies towards the completion of the theatre, for up to $800,000.
Clayton Bellamy, founder of the Clayton Bellamy Foundation, says their recent news about the grant and the loan has been encouraging, and they are inching towards completion after starting the foundation five years ago and beginning the theatre project three years ago.
“It's been three years in the making. The main thing that makes this thing tick is the community, and it's like no other here in the Lakeland – it's the people, when they get behind something boy look out, there's no stopping it,” says Bellamy.
The sound system at the theatre was being installed on Feb. 13, and their first show featuring local musician Mike Plume is set for March 21.
“We still have a couple signage spots available that we are trying to fill, so we’re looking for any big businesses out there that want to put their name inside the theatre,” says Bellamy. “There's also seats available if people want to put their name on a seat.”
During the Feb. 11 Town of Bonnyville council meeting, Coun. Byron Johnson spoke to the abundance of musicians, including Juno award winners, who gain their experience on the stage at the old Lyle Victor Albert Theatre in Bonnyville that shut down.
“I needed to say how important this has been to our community, how much it was used and a lot of these jam sessions that were done, were done with youth and older people on the stage learning and having a good time,” says Johnson.
The significance of what the theatre did for the community is not easily quantifiable in dollars, and that despite the risk involved with an unsecure loan, Johnson is in support of the loan.
“For the Youth that got to use that stage, myself included, it gave you the confidence to get up there in front of people and for public speaking, and all of that, is not measurable in dollars - it is measurable in the confidence [gained] and what people have given back to our communities,” says Johnson.
