Dear Minister Mackay:

RE: The Garrick Theatre

Over the past two years, A.C.O.A. has approved various amounts of funds to restore the Garrick Theatre in Bonavista. These funds were administered by the Bonavista Historic Townscape Foundation who oversees the restoration of the Bonavista Heritage District. The Garrick Theatre is a crucial part of the restoration in this Heritage District. It will be the focal point, the heart if you will, of the whole District. So needless to say, we feel that this is not only a much needed project but a vital project to the whole scheme of things.

Recently we have been advised that A.C.O.A. will not be funding interior renovations to this theatre. This alarms us as a Council because without the interior renovations, the funds spent to renovate the exterior are somewhat wasted. If we cannot use the facility for what it was planned for then the building will be no more than a monument to what could have been.

We can foresee great benefit to having the Garrick Theatre finished both on the exterior and the interior so that it can become alive with activities which will benefit residents and tourists alike. It will be a great economic as well as social benefit to the town.

It would be a travesty of justice to leave the building as is. Therefore, the Town of Bonavista ranks this project as its highest priority for the Town. No other economic development or capital project will take precedent over this project. The Town feels so passionate about this project that they have decided to give it their full support even to the point that they will not apply for any other capital project until this decision is revisited.

We urge that you revisit your decision on The Garrick Theatre because the future of the whole Bonavista Heritage District lies in your hands.

Town of Bonavista
Bonavista, NL
town.bonavista@nf.sympatico.ca

cc:
Hon. Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
Hon. Danny Williams, Premier, Newfoundland and Labrador
Hon. Tom Hedderson, Minister, Tourism, Culture and Recreation
Hon. Kathy Dunderdale, Minister, Innovation, Trade and Rural Development
Scott Simms, M.P., Bonavista Gander Grand Falls-Windsor
Roger Fitzgerald, M.H.A., Bonavista South
Paul Mills, Vice-President (Newfoundland and Labrador), ACOA
Mayor Betty Fitzgerald, Town of Bonavista

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