The Bank, which serves as a rehearsal venue, should be urgently renovated so that performances can also take place there. Even the decision to start the renovation has not yet been taken, although the change of activity will take place at the turn of the year.
The Kemi City Theatre will cease to exist at the turn of the year and the activities will be transferred to the Meri-Lapin Teatteriyhdistys ry, which was founded at the end of May.
The main prerequisites are a reasonably sized grandstand, a partnership agreement between the city and the association, and the transfer of the state subsidy to the association. All these should be answered and resolved in the next few weeks.
The decision to renovate the premises is already urgent if the theatre is to have an auditorium early in the year. The autumn plays will be performed in the Customs House, which seats around 50 people. After the turn of the year, the theatre should have a new venue with more than three times as many seats as at present.
The theater’s rehearsal space has recently been a former bank building, and so the space is referred to as the Bank. The plans are to transfer all the theater’s operations to the Bank – for example, the auditorium and ticket office are now in Tullimakasin.
The decision to renovate the premises was delayed over the summer by an investigation into the possibility of placing theater performances in the snow castle building. This idea met with opposition from the travel company, and Pankki was selected as the future grandstand space at the end of August.
Renovation decision in a couple of weeks
– We need to get a decision made within a week, a week and a half, so that we can manage the paper war, and then we can hit the shovel on the ground.
This week, i.e. in the middle of the month, we will receive an updated cost estimate for the renovation. The plan for the renovation work and the budget of around 350,000 euros was drawn up about a year ago, so an increase in the price can be expected.
When an up-to-date cost estimate is available, we can hold final negotiations on the financing of the renovation and make a decision.
New grandstand to open in February?
It is estimated that it will take about three months to renovate the bank’s premises. If the decision is made soon, and the permit procedure does not take much time, the stands could be ready at the beginning of the year.
– If we could start in November, sometime around the middle of February we could start the performances in the Bank’s premises, says Esa Kylmälä.
By the end of September, there may also be a decision on the transfer of government shares from the city to the theater association.
In addition, the partnership agreement between the city and the association is being prepared, but the work is just beginning.
Money is of course the problem in starting operations and commissioning renovations. The fledgling theater association is currently penniless. The state contribution and the city subsidy are therefore necessary.
The city has decided on the 2023 funding for the theater, but the association should have some kind of perspective on support for the coming years as well. The state contribution period is now six years, but the municipality decides on its budget one year at a time. Municipal support is also a prerequisite for receiving a state share.
– Professional theater looks far into the future and has to commit to many things already years in advance, Kylmälä describes.
The Partnership Agreement defines the game of joint action
A partnership agreement that defines the rules and conditions of mutual cooperation next year and beyond will help with the dilemma of the city and the theater operation’s different rhythms.
– In that, we agree what the city will compensate and what the association commits to do with this money, summarizes Kylmälä.
The implementation of the agreement will be reviewed regularly in the future. The basic idea is that when the city gets its money’s worth, i.e. the agreed services, the theater association can in turn count on the city’s support.
Footfall and other new things
The municipality’s support for theater operations in 2023 is 370,000 euros, and the state contribution is expected to be more than 730,000 euros. In addition to this, the theater association should acquire other income of at least 200,000 – 300,000 euros.
In order to increase ticket revenue, a decent performance venue with sufficient numbers of spectators is necessary. The grandstand planned for the bank would have 160–170 customer seats. In addition, space is needed for intermediate services, clothes storage and toilets. The customs warehouse will be completely removed from the use of the theater. Storage space elsewhere will continue to be needed.
Revenue must be collected in several ways.
– There are already many kinds of plans. The idea is to take the theater out of the house more and more widely, to go to schools, kindergartens, homes for the elderly, neighboring municipalities. This helps the theater claim its place in the region, says Esa Kylmälä.
Kylmälä also believes that there is a significant number of people in the area who want to support theater activities by becoming a supporting member of the association.
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