The Gate House Theatre wants to build a bandstand in downtown Port McNeill.
What’s a bandstand, you might be wondering? Well, it’s basically an open-air venue used for entertainment performances and other types of community-sponsored activities.
On behalf of the theatre, President Gord Oppen appeared at Port McNeill council’s March 8 meeting as a delegate to discuss the project, where he noted they would like to use an area of the town’s waterfront property for it.
The theatre is going to be applying for a grant up to $50,000 to help bring the project to life, with the monies given out through the Island Coastal Economic Trust’s (ICET) THRIVE Small Capital Project.
Oppen’s request for support from the town was brought back up at its March 22 meeting, where council ultimately voted 4-1 to support the project so long as they can review the grant application prior to the theatre submitting it.
Oppen said the next step is to have the architectural drawings created as a part of the application, and the theatre will then be consulting with the town regarding the proposal.
“They will get their hands on it, enhance it, refine it, and we are fine with that,” Oppen confirmed. “It’s a good thing for council to be able to see it, it’s the town’s land, we are going to have it built and they will own it.”
Oppen added while the ICET grant likely won’t cover the entire cost of the bandstage, “it’s still a beginning,” he said. “There’s several other grants we can also apply for.”
He is realistically hoping that the theatre will be able to complete the project this year and then have it ready to use by 2023.
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