Ituna residents reclaim community’s theatre with plans for future

Ituna residents formed a co-op, made an offer, and secured ownership of the town’s lone theatre, aiming to restore and revitalize the building.

Christmas seemingly came early for a group in Ituna as they managed to purchase the community’s 79-year-old theatre with a vision for the future.

“Wow, we actually did this. It’s amazing,” said Peter Overduin, a local councillor who spearheaded the local initiative.

First opened in 1946, the venue has seen multiple ownership changes, but it remained an integral part of small community located 77 kilometres west of Yorkton.

In November, the then-owner of the Ituna Theatre decided to put the establishment up for sale through an auction house. It was at that point that Overduin brought the community together to come up with a way to save it.

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“We’re raising money through a [Community Investment Co-op] model, where people can give up to $1,000, which goes into an investment account,” he told CTV News in November. “We’re hoping to get enough [money] to purchase the theatre and own and operate it locally.”

The auction closed a few days later. Overduin said they didn’t end up participating in the auction because the reserve was too high for the budget they managed to collect from patrons. On closure day, there was only one bid submitted through McDougall Auctioneers, which was below the reserve price.

The auction fell through. The following day, Overduin reached out to the seller directly.

“I was representing a group of people from the community, and [the seller] came down from his reserve place in the auction. We got it for less than what he was originally shooting for in the auction,” he explained. “We were very grateful that we can do that.”

In the end, a total of 45 residents decided to pitch in.

While it sounds like a happy ending, or the third act to a typical small town Christmas movie, Overduin’s actions are just the first step toward reclaiming the town’s iconic establishment.

“We need to fundraise for infrastructure needs, for electrical upgrades, furnace, plumbing, that kind of thing,” he explained.

Overduin said he hopes that the community support will continue with ideas and know-hows.

“I’d love for people who have a passion for the arts to reach out and give us ideas and thoughts,” he said. “I’m not the repository of all things, so I would love to know what kind of ideas people would have to make this a success, and a great place to hang out.”

The vision for the new Ituna Investment Co-op is to turn the theatre into a lively community hub.

“We’d love to have everything from birthday parties to concerts, to comedy and drama,” he listed their dreams. “We want involvement from the indigenous communities from around here, we can use [the building] for bridge building.”

He added that they’ll continue screening movies, the seller is helping them with accounts for screening rights.

“Everybody’s very excited.”