If ever there was a big dreamer, a big thinker, and a Rotarian of Action, all rolled into one, it is Rotarian Brian Robinson.
Brian is a Past President of the Rotary Club of Medicine Hat Saamis, currently Club treasurer, and at District level, District Youth Exchange (YEX) inbound events coordinator.
President Bruce Shepard and members of the Rotary Club of Medicine Hat were delighted to welcome Brian as guest speaker at the noon meeting on Monday 21 August 2023. He was accompanied by Saamis Club President, Frank Devine.
Brian shared how he and other members of the Rotary Club of Medicine Hat Saamis have for a number of years, explored ways and means to generate club funding beyond the usual selling of tickets, staffing Bingo sessions, and having a turn to person an evening at the Casino.
The Monarch Theatre is ‘it’. It will become a Rotary commercial venture, operating on a business model, as a social enterprise, with Federal Charity status, for which application has already been made.
This exciting breaking news will be disclosed to the media shortly.
The theatre has been bought from the City of Medicine Hat by the Monarch 1911 Society, for an undisclosed amount, and will be restored to its former 1950s glory, redecorated by local construction companies, and transformed, over the months ahead, into a community resource second to none.
The transformation vision is that the Monarch will operate as a social enterprise. It will be run on business principles and as a for-profit business, but after sub-contractors and other expenses have been paid, all remaining profits will be returned to the community as a grant.
The Monarch project is a joint Rotary project in the sense that to join the Society and to become a member of the Board, one has to be a Rotarian in the city of Medicine Hat.
A second committee will be set up annually, to receive applications and to decide on how the profits of that year will be distributed in the community.
The hope is that through this initiative, Rotary will not only increase its funding for service projects, but its prominence in the Medicine Hat community and that this will unfold into attracting new members for the four Clubs.
Daily operations of the theatre will be outsourced to Plugg=d-in Media. This means that volunteers will not be needed at that level, as has been the practice in the past.
Landmark Media will be contracted to sell movie tickets and to show movies at the Monarch.
Matinees will be shown, in addition to regular movie nights. The Monarch will be open to community music organizations, community theatre, indigenous groups, comedy groups, and for any number of events, including private functions.
The Monarch 1911 Board will do fundraising, including grant applications. A sum of about $200,00 is needed to kick-start the renovations and the transformation of the theatre.
Once the Monarch 1911 Board has the keys, a full assessment will be done of the building. New ideas will feed into the renovations, including the extension of the stage and the improvement of the sound system.
Timeline: if all goes according to plan, the first movie show will be at the end of November 2023.
A distinguishing feature is that, once operational again, the Monarch will be the longest operating community theatre in Canada.
Brian was sincerely thanked for identifying this wonderful opportunity for Rotary, for taking the lead, and for making this ground breaking initiative a reality for Rotary in Medicine Hat, and for the Medicine Hat community.
The Rotary Club of Medicine Hat salutes you! You can count on our support!