‘More than a movie theatre project’: Renovation work at The Garry Theatre underway

Renovations are underway at the historic Garry Theatre in Selkirk.

The revival process for the Garry Theatre in Selkirk is underway.

The theatre opened in 1948 and closed in May 2021. The owners at the time, Landmark Cinemas, cited issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic for the closure.

The City of Selkirk bought the theatre after it closed for $350,000 with plans to give it new life.

Duane Nicol, the CAO of Selkirk, said renovations started on March 3, and the first phase of work is almost complete.

“They’ve removed the seats, they’ve gutted the lobby and the bathrooms, removed some of the other elements of the building that aren’t going to be needed any longer,” said Nicol.

“So that deconstruction is looking to wrap up shortly, and then we’ll start the actual renovation process.”

Some of the renovations will include an accessible entryway, renovated washrooms, new flooring and seating, roof repairs, and “aesthetic improvements.”

Nicol said this is a project that has really piqued the interest of Selkirk residents.

“You can’t really go anywhere in the community without someone asking you, ‘How’s The Garry going? When is it going to open up?‘”

In the initial survey for the theatre, Nicol said 100 people said they would like to be involved on the board of directors, and another 400 people said they would volunteer at The Garry.

“As a lifelong resident, this is really meaningful for us to see this happen,” he said.

“This is way more than a movie theatre project…this is community development. This project is really going to drive the community development in four key ways: economic, socially, human and cultural.”

Nicol said the next step, beyond construction work, is setting up a board of directors and dealing with some of the behind-the-scenes work.

An official opening date hasn’t been given yet, but Nicol said the goal is to have the theatre up and running in the fall of this year.

If people want to stay updated on the work with the theatre, Selkirk is providing updates online.