Listen to the broadcast version of this story, which ran on Kootenay Morning on June 12, 2026:
By Jaime Frederick, Local Journalism Initiative
Lights! Camera! Action! The Nelson Civic Theatre Society (NCTS) will soon be showing more movies in a new temporary cinema space at the chapel building on the Selkirk College Tenth Street Campus in Fairview.
The NCTS hopes to open the screen at the chapel sometime this July. The new space will allow them to show more films, and generate revenue to offset operating expenses during the next phase of renovations at the Civic Theatre on Vernon Street. The Civic has been closed since 2024, first for repairs to the roof, which are now complete, and now interior renovations are expected to take at least another 14 months.
At a meeting of Nelson City Council on Tuesday, council unanimously agreed to lease the chapel building to the NCTS for that duration. NCTS agrees to pay a nominal amount for rent, and will pay utilities and other day-to-day costs of operating the facility. NCTS executive director, Eleanor Stacey, says the space will allow them to offer moviegoers a welcome opportunity to see more films in Nelson.
“We can’t wait to welcome more audiences back into a cinema environment,” says Stacey. “The Shoebox is a wonderful space, but it is so small and we know that people are missing out on seeing things in a slightly larger group.”
Stacey refers to the 21-seat Shoebox Theatre, where the NCTS has been showing films since the Civic has been closed. It’s a tiny screening room in the back of Reo’s Videos, at 225 Hall St., which has a certain charm but lacks capacity as a revenue generator. Stacey says the chapel space is anticipated to have about two-and-a-half times the seating of the Shoebox.
“The addition of the chapel on the Tenth Street campus is a really wonderful next chapter for us as we progress towards completing our renovations at the Civic Theatre,” she says. “In addition to our efforts to raise funds to complete this major renovation, we’ve had to really keep an eye on our operating costs. And the tricky thing with having lost 80 per cent of our usual income is that we still need to have a staff team to be able to move the fundraising campaign forward, to continue to offer programs and services through 225 Hall, and also to make sure that we can manage the project as it continues within the Civic itself.”
The NCTS now plans to operate both venues, the Chapel and the Shoebox, so that they can maximize opportunities to reduce ongoing operating deficits that have been accumulating while the Civic Theatre remains closed. The NCTS is also actively trying to raise $2.5 million in completion funding so that it can finish the renovation project and get people back to the movies.
“We’re really looking forward to seeing the Shoebox and the 10th Street chapel space operate together because it gives us the flexibility to bring more films to our audiences on a regular basis than we’re able to do with the Shoebox alone,” says Stacey. “So people can look forward to seeing more titles available faster because of the two-screen model.”
