Future of Palace Theatre forming as consultations start

Community members have been asked to provide their vision for the Palace Theatre, a once grand vaudeville venue built in 1912 on Selkirk Avenue when the area was booming.

The effort to restore the building that’s been empty for more than two decades started last year.

Michael Redhead Champagne, community curator with North End History, the group spearheading redevelopment, said hearing the community members’ opinions will be key.

“Our hope is that we’ll be able to develop this into a north-end arts and cultural centre,” he said. “We want it to be as if the Park Theatre and the West End Cultural Centre had a north end baby.”

Redhead Champagne said the first round of consultations on the Palace Theatre will take place Saturday at the North End Neighbours Culture Fest, running from noon to 4 p.m. at the nearby Ukrainian Labour Temple, at 591 Pritchard Ave.

He said they are asking people to illustrate their visual hopes for the venue inside and out; write out what programming they want to see and then to vote on a project charter, which will serve as a guiding document for the endeavour.

“That project charter is going to be essential,” Redhead Champagne said, noting it will be used to help formulate applications for grants and other forms of funding. “For us, we want to make sure as many north enders as possible, and future supporters, are able to provide their suggestions and feedback to the project.”

He said alongside the consultations, they’re also using Saturday’s event to launch fundraising efforts for the Palace Theatre, with plans to have the venue overseen by an Indigenous-led charity currently in the formation stages.

“We’re hoping to fill a void for north end kids and families,” he said.

The festival is hosted by several north end groups, including the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians, the United Jewish Peoples Order and the Manitoba-Cuba Solidarity Committee.

Emily Halldorson, vice president of the association, said they expect 500 people to pass through the festival on Saturday. She said the event is a chance for the diverse community that is the north end to come together, saying it’s exciting for the festival to also serve as a launch for the effort around the Palace.

“We’re working together and building deep relationships,” she said.

Halldorson said as owners of the historic Ukrainian Labour Temple, they know a lot about the maintenance and importance of preserving the city’s history, and they’re ready to help ensure historic venues like the Palace have their place in Winnipeg.

“We have a deep knowledge of the significance of that, and the responsibility that comes with that; being connected to and involved with … a space, an organization, a community that has such a long, long history,” she said. “So it’s definitely something that we as an organisation are excited to see.”

She said the Ukrainian Labour Temple, even as a historic building, still serves as a lively location in the north end, and it’s possible such a revival could be in store for the theatre as well.

“That’s what could happen to the Palace Theatre,” she said. “An event like the cultural fest could happen there in the future. That means people can go into that space, experience the space, think about the history and give it new life.”

morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca