Ponoka’s Capitol Theatre is remaining closed for the indefinite future.
“At this time we are just unsure of anything regarding reopening,” said owner Gurjit Sandhu in an email.
“COVID-19 has caused a lot of uncertainty for everyone and we, of course, are not excluded.”
According to Sandhu, the theatre chose to shut down a short time before government restrictions made it mandatory.
“When the COVID-19 scare first entered Canada, there was a dip in business as the theatre is a place that is higher risk and then we voluntarily closed as we did not feel the risk was worth it.”
Sandhu says their family has had an extremely busy year and haven’t had the chance to make plans for reopening, but if they did, some obstacles would be the cost of some renovations in order to meet government regulations.
Renovations that would be most likely needed would be installing plexiglass in some places and finding ways to distance different cohort groups in the small lobby.
They would also need to make sure that, when seated, patrons have enough distance from other cohorts.
The owners are actively trying to sell the theatre, partially due to changes in family commitments.
“There are some major changes coming up within our family and the commitment required for the theatre will be a struggle.”
Sandhu says the theatre has always done fairly well, “minus the first couple of years where there was some growing pains while learning the business.”