New Community Theatre a Possibility

Bonnyville’s Lyle Victor Albert Centre may soon be no more, making way for a new community theatre.

News of the Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS) modernization approval has the town wondering, ‘what will happen to the Lyle?’. The popular theatre is owned by Northern Lights Public Schools (NLSD) and has been in need of some serious upgrades for a long time. Naturally, with its proximity to BCHS, rumour have been swirling around the town that the theatre may be getting torn down to make room for the renovations to the school.

Communications Officer with NLSD, Nicole Garner says that is definitely one of the possibilities. “Nothing is finalized yet, but I can tell you that’s one of the options,” Garner says there is discussion to build a new gymnasium at BCHS and transform the existing space into a theatre. “It would be intended to be used by the community,” with whom should bare the cost of the renovation and operating still up in the air. The Lyle Victor Albert Centre is home to many community groups including Hi Energy Dance and the popular monthly Bonnyville Live showcases. The Town of Bonnyville did confirm that the land the Lyle Victor Albert Centre is on belongs to the school board, as does the building, so its fate would ultimately be up to the board.

Garner explains the news of the modernization just came down and there’s many things that still need to be worked out; including waiting on projects from the Province’s last go-around to be completed. Garner was unable to give a timeline as to when the designs would be finalized, but did note that a needs-assessment that was conducted about a year ago between the school board, teachers, and stakeholders. In the needs-assessment one of the biggest concerns was a theatre.

Another issue the board will be looking at when designing the modernization is parking, “there’s so much happening there. We have the Town Hall, the court house and the school,” Garner says that parking will be a huge consideration in the design phase.

Garner says the BCHS project has been a top priority for NLSD since the approval of the new Cold Lake Elementary School. Talks of what could be have been at the table for a number of years previous to the approval. Ultimately, the board and Province agreed that a modernization made the most sense financially, “there’s a whole cost analysis comparison between a new build and modernization,” Garner says the board is satisfied that the modernization will be able to reach all of BCHS’ needs.