The Tidemark Theatre re-opened on Aug. 27 after the annual summer shutdown, showcasing a renovated Box Office and a brand new ticketing system.
These improvements to the facility are part of the T25 Capital Upgrade Project. The project, which features the modernization of the existing historical Tidemark Theatre with new seating, state-of-the-art computerized lighting, in house projection equipment, monitor system, and an online ticketing system, is funded by the City of Campbell River ($250,000), Island Coast Sustainability Trust ($153,000), Coast Sustainability Trust ($153,000), and the Tidemark Theatre’s own fundraising efforts, which have raised just over $125,000 since the start of the T25 Capital Campaign in January 2012. The total budget for the T25 Capital Upgrade Project is estimated to be just over $600,000.
In January 2013, the Tidemark Theatre installed a brand new in-house projection system, featuring a state-of-the-art projector and screen.
Over the past month, the Tidemark Theatre’s new ticketing system, Theatre Manager, was installed and the Box Office was completely renovated.
The new ticketing system will help the facility better serve their patrons. Previously, the theatre had a paper-based system for selling tickets.
With the installation of the new ticketing system, the Tidemark Theatre joins the ranks of the Sid Williams Theatre, The Port Theatre, and the Cowichan Theatre – all of whom have had an online ticketing system for several years now.
Key features of the system include:
- Tickets to events can now be purchased online;
- Patrons can select their own seats online;
- Lost tickets can easily be replaced;
- Patrons can have their tickets mailed;
- Tidemark Theatre can utilize the technology to ticket events for other local organizations.
Kim Emsley-Leik, Managing Director of the Tidemark Theatre Society, says, “These upgrades are not only going to help us streamline and enhance the efficiency of our operations, they are going to have a direct economic impact on the community. Event hosting is a viable economic development activity, and we recognize that.
“Every day we host events at the Tidemark Theatre that have direct economic spinoffs that positively impact the community of Campbell River – we do business with local media outlets, hotels, printers, restaurants, suppliers, numerous contractors, the list goes on and on. The capital upgrades are already generating economic spinoffs as we begin to contract the services of several local companies to help us execute the T25 Capital Upgrade Project.”
“In the coming year the public is going to see lots of change here at the Tidemark Theatre,” says Marlene Wray, President of the Tidemark Theatre Society. “But it’s good change – change that leads to bigger and better things. We are tremendously appreciative of the community support we have received to date for the T25 Capital Upgrade Project.”
Over the next year, the Tidemark Theatre Society will continue to fundraise for the T25 Capital Upgrade Project, and efforts will be focused on the seating project, which will see the replacement of the seats in the auditorium. Project start date for the seating installation is tentatively proposed to be July 1, 2013.