18 Terrace Review — Wednesday, June 1S, 88 See CAs Be Bee eee
The Performing Arts Shell — a story of

determined effort and dedication

by Gord Shaben

I feel this story must be told in
its entirety to link a lot of seem-
ingly disjointed events in the last
while. - Lo

Jim Ryan says the bandshell
concept goes back 16 years, to
1972.. A bandshell was included
in the original proposal for
developing George Little Mem-
orial Park. In 1984 during an
outdoor concert Ryan reiterated
the need for a sheltered perform-
ing area. Some members of the
municipal council at that time
voiced approval and verbal sup-
port but warned that lack of
funding would be the critical
factor.

Also in the fall of 1984, a
group of local musicians and
friends organized a fund raising
dance at the Thornhill Com-
munity Hall (The Joyce Green-
wood Benefit). The success of
this endeavour made the group
yealize that through effort and
dedication money could be rais-
ed for other causes that would
benefit the community at large.

The need for an outdoor place
to perform was a much talked
about subject. People started
getting involved and organizing
a benefit dance. The next “Band
Bash” was held in the Thornhill
Community Centre on April 4
and §, 1984, involving almost a
dozen bands. It too was a suc-
cess and the first dollars
materialized to go towards the
eventual realization of our
dream — to someday have an
open air performance shell in the
land of wet weekends, Other
fund raisers were still to come.

The spring of 1986 was a busy
time. With the realization that
with the community behind us
we could accomplish what had
now become a major undertak-
ing, Alan Soutar and Associates
(architects) were approached
and a model developed of a per-
formance shell to assist us in our
application to the city (still the
District of Terrace at that time.).
The council gave us Agreement

in Principle, but indicated to the

group that we would have to
raise our own funds. We weren't
about to quit or even be dis-
couraged; we now had approval
of the site.

It was at this point that the
group decided it needed to be
better organized and in the sum-
mer of 1986 formed The Terrace
Musicians Association. In the
fall of 1986 a very enjoyable
cabaret was organized at the
Bavarian Inn. With the pro-
ceeds, we planned yet another
big dance at the Thornhill
Community Hall. An enormous
amount of effort and dedication
went into these events. -

Late in 1986 other performing
arts groups were approached
and asked to get involved. We
were aware that this addition to

‘the community would assist and

benefit a multitude of other
community organizations and
particularly the performing arts
groups. As a consequence of all
this, an offshoot group was
formed involving some of the
original musicians and - other
supportive parties, i.e. Terrace
Little Theatre and Terrace Com-

Deadline extension

British Columbia’s Royal
Commission on Education has
been granted a six-week exten-
sion for filing a report to
government.

Commissioner Barry Sullivan
asked for more time and was

given an extension from June 1
to July 15.

Sullivan was appointed com-
missioner in March, 1987, and
given a mandate to review
education in B.C. from
kindergarten to Grade 12.

p.m. for

p.m. to

The Terrace Youth Centre’s hours are: Mondays: 7 to 9
ages 10 to 12; Wednesdays: Special Program
Night from 7 to 10 p.m. for ages 10 to 19 years; Fridays: 7
10 p.m. ages 13 to 19 years. All teens are

welcome to participate In the Centre’s activities and
programs at no cost, unless otherwise specified. Ter-
race Youth Centre Is located at 4634 Walsh Avenue.

Visit the Northern Motor
inn, for nightly
entertainment.
3086 Hwy. 16 East
635-6375

Repeounecassienc

June 6-June 18

Tom Mohr.

munity Band.

The search was on for a name
for this enthusiastic group,
something self-explanatory.
How about. the Outdoor Per-
forming Arts Committee? That
was to the point, but somehow
when the initials were used to
shorten it, O.P.A.C. went down
on a flaming carpet..In April of
1987 the Performing Arts Shell
Society was formed~P.A.5.S.
They picked up the ball and ran
with it. There was the job of
organizing the building and ad-
ministering the funds. The Ter-
race Musicians Association was
the sole fundraiser at this point
and has continued to raise funds
ever since through benefit
dances and the sale of the sym-
bolic ‘“Bricks’’. Meanwhile,
consultation was taking place
and dimensions and capabilities
of the building were being dis-
cussed. (Who says we’re crazy?)

In May of 1986 Terrace City
Council committed $8,500 from
the budget to the project. In
June, the plans and engineering
were developed by John Morgan
Engineering and Alan Soutar
and Associates. P.A.S.S. was
presented with $3,700 from the

‘Terrace Musicians Association.

P.A.S.S. also approached the
Terrace & District Arts Council
to make an application for funds
on its behalf. Once this applica-
tion was made P.A.S.S. ap-
proached the City of Terrace for
interim financing to be repaid
out of the funding upon comple-

tion of the Performing Arts
Shell, -

Now we were in business. We
committed ourselves to be in
operation by the beginning of
Riverboat Days (good thing we
never mentioned which year).

On July 26, 1987 the sod was
turned in George Little Memor-
ial park for the long-awaited and
almost « forgotten. ‘Performing
Arts Shell.

_ Although our original plan
was to use mostly volunteer
labor to construct the project we
realized it was more realistic at
this point to enlist the services of
skilled labor to a large extent.
The original cost estimate
almost doubled from $25,000 to
$49,000. What the heck, we do
things big up north here, eh!

Enough of allthis work and
no play, The Terrace Musicians
Association was at it again.
Sept. 5, 1987 another very suc-
cessful dance was held at the Inn

- of the West and we launched the

‘SBrick’? campaign. March 4 - 5
a Band Shell Extravaganza at
the Royal Canadian Legion was
very successful, Another $4,000
was donated to P.A.S.S. for the
project. I might add that with-
out the tremendous encour-
agement and support of the local
businesses, too numerous to
mention here, and citizens in the
area it would not have been
possible to stage these very
entertaining fund raising events.
“So, when’s the big payoff you
ask?’ Check out the opening ex-

travaganza — don’t leave town.
this weekend! fo

Back to the historical account.

By the end of Sept. 1987 the
building was in place, roof and
all. At this point an intermission
was taken while winter ran its
course. The shakes went on in
April of 1988, four years after
the first fund raiser. -

By May of this year, the musi-
cians and some volunteers in-.
stalled the almost 2,000 feet of
liner, and although there are still
a few finishing touches and
possible additions, we have a
performing arts shell.

It is no longer an empty con-
struction sight and I have faith
in the community at large that
the efforts and donations made -
to our end will be protected and
respected.

In this community there is a
lot of talent and a place is need-
ed to meet and integrate the ar- -
tistic talents. Therefore we have
created a common ground and ~
showcase for the community — —
a free place for people to per-
form. _
We hope that through our ef-.
forts the Performing Arts Shell
will elevate and enhance the
overall appreciation of fine arts
in this community. ~~

We will be turning the Perfor-
ming Arts Shell ofver to the City
of Terrace for $1.00. People can
pook through the Recreation
Department at no charge.

So come on out and enjoy the
facility from this weekend on.

T GUIDE

Copper
Grill at the

Terrace Hotel |

Mon.-Halian Night

features International Dinners.
All you can eat for

$4.99

Thurs.-Indonesian Night
Tuas.-English Night Fri.-Oriental Night
Wed.-Spanish Night Sal.-Canada Day

Dally Luncheon & Dinner Buffet $6.75

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Sunday 1200 a.m, — 10 p.m.

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