Information Session
Join us on December 2nd 2023 at 2 pm at the Chalet Bellevue in Morin-Heights.
The project management committee will be there to answer questions and listen to your ideas. Coffee and viennoiseries provided. Please RSVP at the link below.
What is the project?
Theatre Morin Heights (TMH), like other local groups aimed at culture and performance, has been experiencing a surge in demand leading to a lack of space and resources to meet the needs of our community. Last fall, a small team initiated by TMH came together to address this by proposing to build a PAC in Morin-Heights. We have received positive feedback on our plan for a small, flexible, community-engaged space that would seek to cater to the entire community while specifically addressing the lack of access to the performing arts for anglophones in the Laurentians.
We have the support of the Municipality of Morin-Heights and the MRC des Pays-d’en-Haut. A market and operational-budget study will be completed by a professional firm, and we are currently working with a theatre consultancy to transform our needs into technical plans.
We now need your critical feedback to make these plans work for the community.
What we need from you
Feedback: We need critical, constructive feedback and ideas from you to help us answer these questions:
- How can we increase access to the performing arts for the anglophone community?
- What would be your involvement as a citizen in this community project?
The History of Theatre Morin Heights
Twenty years ago, TMH, a community theatre group made up of volunteers, was reborn after a seven-year hiatus.
After producing shows in various venues, the Chalet Bellevue was converted into a multi-use space. Today, TMH moves into the Bellevue temporarily to rehearse and perform and moves back out again several times a year. We are otherwise homeless and experience roadblocks in achieving our creative potential and goals.
Despite these obstacles, TMH produces several sold out plays and events every year with teams of up to 50 volunteers. Turnout for involvement is steadily increasing, and membership is at an all-time high.
TMH is only one of several local organizations that could benefit from a PAC in Morin-Heights.
Where are we now?
In the fall of 2022, a team of three people was formed who are totally committed to giving the arts community in Morin-Heights a home. They have become the project management team for the PAC, operating on behalf of TMH.
It should be emphasized that while the PAC committee’s interests overlap with those of TMH, for whom this venue will become a permanent home, this project aims to address the needs of the community beyond this group and welcomes artists, musicians, and performers of all sorts.
Vision, Mission, and Values
The PAC committee vision is to create a space where the performing and visual arts communities can flourish and enrich the population of Morin-Heights and the Laurentians at large.
Our mission is to promote, fund, build, and operate a PAC in Morin-Heights with curtains up by fall 2026.
All the while, we are driven by these core values:
- A venue that enables theatre and music to flourish.
- Creating a regional beacon for the production of arts in Morin-Heights.
- The importance of involvement in theatre and music in contributing to individual and community well-being.
- Cultivating an interest in arts in youth.
- Working with local primary schools
- Interactive creative workshops
- Opportunities for high school students
- A place where people can gather and mingle in an artistic setting, allowing for interdisciplinary creation.
- The contribution to the economic prosperity of our town and region.
The venue
The anglophone community in the Laurentians has no dedicated space to gather, create, and attend live performance in English. The anticipated users of such a space are mainly TMH, music producers, touring productions, community groups, schools, and so on.
With a combination of government grants, fundraising efforts, corporate sponsors, and individual donors, we plan to raise funds for this project, which will include an auditorium, audio-visual recording studios, rehearsal spaces, a bar/café, and all the necessary spaces for creating performances like a scene shop and storage spaces.
In addition to its focus on anglophone access to the arts and community engagement, this space will differ from nearby alternatives in two key ways: It will be intimate in size and atmosphere, and it will be extremely flexible regarding room configurations and possible uses.
Having a dedicated space will allow the community to have access to a well-equipped environment, allowing for learning and development, community building, and inclusion for people of all ages and availabilities (retirees, full-time workers, students, and so on). With this space we will promote intergenerational exchange, career development opportunities, academic success, strengthened social bonds, and community pride.
We must emphasize that this venue will be open to all, regardless of language, but will make efforts to increase access to the performing arts for anglophones.
Support and progress
The municipality of Morin-Heights is whole-heartedly supporting the project.
We also have the support of the MRC des Pays-d’en-Haut, who are funding the project management fee for our feasibility study.
We have met with most of our local theatre peers to seek advice and guidance from their artistic and managing directors. The feedback regarding our plan for a small, flexible, community-engaged space has been positive and enthusiastic.
We have also communicated with local artists, technicians, groups, and community members who are all excited to make this project a reality.
We are in the process of engaging a firm of accountants, consultants, analysts, and business planners to complete a market study and operating budget for the venue.
We are also in the process of engaging an architectural firm along with engineers and acousticians to study the feasibility of the project.
We are currently working on preliminary drawings with the theatre consulting firm Trizart, who are transforming our needs into tangible elements of design. This is an early step in building a venue, and one that requires your feedback via the survey below!
We want to partner closely with our entire community, both in and around Morin-Heights, to make this project a success.
If you have concerns, they are also ours; if you have great ideas, we want them to become part of our plan; if you want to be involved, tell us. You are a crucial part of this project.
This project is generously supported by…
