The Kamloops Symphony and Western Canada Theatre are getting ready for a fall move into the newly renovated Kelson Hall downtown.

The 20,000 square foot building at 330 St. Paul Street – called Kelson Hall – was previously the TELUS Annex building. Bought by the Fawcett’s in 2018, it was part of their proposal for the Kamloops Centre for the Arts that was presented to City Council in Oct. 2019.

Kelson Hall is undergoing “a major renovation” to create a fully accessible space for the Symphony and WCT offices and schools, plus spaces for performances and rehearsals.

It will feature a 1,700 square foot rehearsal facility for the Symphony, a 2,000 square foot, 134-seat theatre and rehearsal hall with state-of-the-art lighting and audio for WCT, plus a 1,500 square foot studio with hardwood sprung flooring. In Jan. 2023, Western Canada Theatre’s Stage One Theatre School will move into a new 1,500 square foot studio, and another 1,700 square feet of space will be home to nine teaching classrooms for the Kamloops Symphony Music School.

The building is also being touted as an arts hub for the City of Kamloops, which is promising to welcome a variety of community arts organizations, people, and students.

“It is no secret that Rae and I are supporters of the arts here in Kamloops,” Kelson Group founder, Ron Fawcett, said, in a statement. “We also realize that the work we have been doing on this building isn’t a secret either with so many people collaborating and the construction soon to wrap up.”

“We are excited to be able to donate as a gift the fully renovated building to the City of Kamloops later this fall when the citizens of Kamloops will become the 100 per cent owners of this building. We then understand it will be leased to, and operated by, the Kamloops Symphony and Western Canada Theatre.”

James MacDonald, the WCT Artistic Director, says they’re grateful to the Fawcett’s for their “generous gift” to the Kamloops arts community.

“This incredible new building will be a jewel of the Kamloops community, and will host thousands of artists, students, and audiences every year,” MacDonald said. “The venue is a much-needed addition to WCT’s performance, rehearsal, and administrative capacity, and a long-overdue permanent home for our Stage One Theatre School.”

“We have many exciting performances planned for Kelson Hall in the future, in addition to our 2022/23 Season at the Sagebrush and Pavilion Theatres.”

Added Daniel Mills, the Executive Director of the Kamloops Symphony, “[we are] truly grateful for Ron and Rae Fawcett’s incredible support, and what they have done to shape the arts in Kamloops,” he said.

“These new facilities for our offices and school will allow us to grow our educational activities through the Kamloops Symphony Music School. The new spaces will also support our general programming, through the larger rehearsal spaces in the building.”

Located next to the proposed site for the Kamloops Centre for the Arts, Kelson Hall is set to open in October, with Fawcett noting it has been designed to support the proposed Centre with a number of amenities and much-needed spaces for local arts groups.

“It is a completely stand-alone facility which will greatly enhance our cultural experiences,” he said.

“Of course, we would like to see the Kamloops Centre for the Arts move forward, but in the interim, Rae and I saw how Kelson Hall could fulfill our commitment to support our arts community in an important and meaningful way, so we jumped at the opportunity.”

As for the proposed arts centre, Interim Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society Chair, Brenda Aynsley, told NL News they’re hoping to come forward with a new plan later this year.

“With the way that things are with the economy, it is very hard to make any estimations about [costs]. We will have a lot of work to do to bring forward the right plan, at the right time,” Aynsley said, noting they’re waiting for word from the new Kamloops City Council, which will be elected on Oct. 15.

“We will have all the information that people will need to feel comfortable making an informed decision when the time happens, and we hope that that is going to be later this year, that we can bring something forward to council.”