Cafe readies for closure

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/08/2012 (4772 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Over the past four years, the Ellice Café and Theatre has become more than a favourite breakfast and dinner spot for John Chase.

It’s become the place where the West End thespian and theatre producer has built up his company, Merlyn Productions, into a fledgling local performing arts juggernaut.

As the café, run by New Life Ministries, prepares to close Fri., Aug. 24, Chase hopes it can be retained as a community and theatre space.

“Certainly it’s unfortunate. With all of the excellent innovations and improvements, they put a lot of time and effort into the building over the last year,” Chase said.

Since 2008, Merlyn has produced four seasons of shows at the theatre, after moving into its Exchange District studio.

“It’s helped us offer a product we could not offer in many other venues,” he said.

“It offers a very unique dinner and a show experience under the same roof at a very reasonable price very close to downtown.”

Although the café will be closed, Merlyn will be allowed to finish its fourth season at the theatre, slated to end Dec. 8, Chase said.

Meanwhile, New Life Ministries continues to look for interested parties to take over the building. 

The café and theatre were opened in February 2005 by the late Rev. Harry Lehotsky and New Life Ministries as an alcohol-free welcoming place for the community.

However, the small 45-member congregation has had to subsidize the venture to the tune of $5,000 a month. That’s a matter of economics and a reflection of the competitive restaurant industry in Winnipeg, members say.

“You give it five years, and after lots of money to help it, you give it two more years,” said Curtis Halbesma, interim pastor at New Life.

“We brought in excellent people and coaches and consultants, and we just couldn’t get it to work. After seven years, you look at it and say what are we doing here?”

New Life is also looking to sell about half of its low-income housing units.

“We want to do things better. To be responsible for all these businesses and be spread too thin is not that good,” Halbesma said.

“What we do have we want to do it well.”

New Life has already heard from nearly a dozen groups interested in buying the café and theatre.

“Every one of them I’m really impressed with,” Halbesma said.

“We’re hoping whoever we sell it to uses it to continue to bless the neighbourhood.”

Short of winning the lottery and taking over the space himself, Chase said he’s optimistic about the building’s future.

At the very least, he hopes it will be maintained as a rental venue.

“We’ve seen community-oriented, staple businesses in our city taken over by a strictly monetary vision,” he said.

“Because of the uniqueness of the facility to both the community and artists, it’s very important… someone with a community vision take over premises as a parcel.

“Winnipeg does not need to lose another affordable performance venue,” he said.

He hopes Merlyn can secure an amicable rental arrangement with the facility’s new owner.

“Certainly there will come a time where our planning for next year must be completed. If we don’t have anything definite from the Ellice, we would have to look elsewhere.”

 

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