We did it
Powell River’s #1 Best Butcher six years in a row 20
of
21
BY ISABELLE SOUTHCOTT
qathet
N
Plan your best-ever summer cook-outs here Store-made smokies made with local meat (including glutenand nitrate-free options) Fresh & ethical meat and fish Delectable sauces and rubs Locally-grown produce Treats to share
Thanks, Powell River!
4741 Marine Avenue
10
604 485-4838
• July 2021 • qathetliving.ca
o one loves a happy ending better than Ann Nelson and Gary Shilling and these days both are smiling at the happily ever after ending they’ve found for the Patricia Theatre. Ann is grateful that the Powell River Film Society has finally been able to pull together the necessary funds to purchase the Patricia Theatre from the Patricia Entertainment Company which is owned by her and her son Brian. And Gary, Executive Director of The Powell River Film Society, is breathing a huge sigh of relief that enough money has been raised and financing found to secure a mortgage for the society to purchase the historic theatre. “It’s been a long process and not without its challenges,” he told qathet Living in an interview. The Patricia will no longer be a privately owned building/business but will be owned by a non -profit society and run as a social enterprise, something that Gary believes will be beneficial moving forward. In the past, some were reluctant to help with campaigns, such as the one for digital conversion, because the theatre was owned by a private business despite the fact that every cent of the $100,000 raised for digital conversion was credited to the film society towards the purchase price of the theatre. To date, the film society has raised about $170,000 and from those funds has patched the roof and paid for expenses relative to the sales agreement. What’s left is enough for a down payment. “Six hundred people have donated money,” said Gary. “This community has been so generous,” he added noting that more fundraising will still be needed. “Once the Patricia has finally been transferred to the film society, the film society will be in a better position to apply to potential funders.” Private lender Thomas Lightburn of Vancouver and Savary Island has offered the film society a private mortgage at a “very generous interest rate below market rates,” said Gary. “Thomas has worked in film in BC all his life and he has a love of cinema and an interest in preserving cultural heritage.” As well, more than a dozen people have donated more than $5,000 each to the fund. “It’s the community doing the work to preserve the theatre,” said Gary. The film society was getting close to being able to pull the deal together but still had a $100,000 shortfall when two things happened to solve the problem. “Ann expressed an interest in the lot behind the theatre. Removing it from the sale reduced our purchase price. “Secondly, Stuart Isto generously offered to prepay a ten year lease for the storefront space to set up his letterpress shop. We’ll have ‘Ye Old Letterpress Shop’
GIVE YOURSELF A PAT: The Patricia’s Spanish Revival building has been around since 1928, and the business since 1913. Photo courtesy of the Powell River Historical Museum & Archives. Photo processing by Nicole Narbonne. and ‘Ye Old Movie Theatre’ – foundations of Townsite heritage – together in the same building,” said Gary. “A win-win for all!” For Ann, retaining ownership of the lot adjacent to the Patricia means that she can keep her beloved garden with its gorgeous sunsets and the view she loves. This is more than she dared hope for. Her future plans call to move a small house onto the property in the not too distant future but that’s a story for another day. “It’s all going to work out. I get to smell the same flowers, welcome the same birds and see the same snakes. Now, if I can just live long enough to see this happen!” she said. Even though it’s been a lot of work for Gary to spearhead this operation, he’s really enjoyed meeting people who say: “I love the Patricia! It’s been part of my life since I was a child.”
For many, especially seniors, the Patricia and the film festival, are an important part of life in Powell River and as much as everyone looks forward to the theatre reopening, it will not be this summer. There’s just too much work to do, says Gary. “The theatre will be reopened under the film society management sometime in the fall,” said Gary. “We have a lot of work to do. We need to train staff, order supplies, and clean up.” The Film Society will run the Patricia as a social enterprise with seniors and youth working together.
