The wait is over – the sequel to The Garry Theatre Act 1 is here and everyone’s favourite movie house is open and screening this Wednesday.
A grand opening on Oct. 16 was followed by a donor open house on the 17th, and now the public can experience the theatre for themselves. To kick things off, The Garry is embracing the Halloween season with a Beetlejuice double feature. You can catch the original BeetlejuiceWednesday and Thursday at 7pm before Beetlejuice Beetlejuice hits the screen at 9pm each evening. Separate tickets are required for each show.
Sticking with the Halloween theme, next up is the 1984 classic Ghostbusters, running back-to-back on Oct. 30 with showtimes of 7pm and 9:15pm. Opening weekend closes out in style on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 with all three movies: Beetlejuice at 1pm, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice at 3pm and Ghostbusters at 7pm and 9:15pm. Tickets will be available for purchase beginning next week.
A soft opening
The Garry is considering this a soft launch, with all new staff, a brand-new ticketing and concession sales software, and a projector that has sat mostly idle for the last five years. There will be some kinks to work out and undoubtedly a learning curve, but the theatre is ready to do what it was renovated and re-established for: welcoming the community inside to make memories.
For Mayor Larry Johannson, grand opening weekend was exciting, but seeing the public enter the doors for the first time in years is an even bigger thrill.
“The story of The Garry Theatre is in many ways the story of the people of Selkirk. This building on Manitoba Avenue lives in the memories of the thousands who came here over the years, some who saw their first movie here, others who went on their first date here, maybe met their future spouse here. It’s part of the fabric of our community and has been for 75 years,” Johannson said.
“It’s been amazing to see the theatre transform since the city purchased it in 2021. The making of The Garry Theatre has been quite the production, and the team behind it, from city staff and management to builders and architects, to community members who took such an interest in this project and the board members and our new executive director, they’ve kept us on the edge of our seats. And now, we can take a seat in the theatre, relax and enjoy the show. I’m proud of everyone involved.”
Celebrating how we got here
The Friday night grand opening was attended by those who have been the muscle behind the herculean effort that has been ongoing for the past five years to pump love and life back into Selkirk’s beloved theatre.
Selkirk Chief Administrative Officer Duane Nicol emceed the Friday and Saturday events and brought the passion and enthusiasm synonymous with the effort to the evening.
“Tonight, we are not simply opening a theatre,” Nicol said on Friday.
“Tonight, we celebrate what a community can accomplish when it chooses to believe in a version of itself that does not yet exist. Five years ago, there was no opening night to attend. There were no lights on the marquee, no audience in these seats, and no celebration like the one we share tonight. There was only an aging building, standing quietly as a shadow of its former self.”
Thank you for believing in The Garry
He credited all those in attendance with seeing what couldn’t be seen and having the passion and commitment to work towards bringing the vision into focus.
“Where others might have seen only what had been lost, this community chose to see what could be regained. Where others might have seen an old building, the people in this room saw opportunity. And from that belief, everything that followed became possible,” he said.
“What followed was five years of vision, planning, partnership, problem-solving, fundraising, design, construction, and perseverance. Five years of imagining what this place could be and refusing to give up until that vision became reality. And the people who made that happen are here tonight.”
Friday night guests included Kyle Irving, Co-owner and Producer of Eagle Vision; Randy Joynt, Executive Director of the Manitoba Arts Council; and Susan Quinn and David Manahan, daughter and son of Len Manahan, long-time Manager of the Garry Theatre. Representatives of the Stage sponsors Rotary Club of Selkirk, Concession sponsor Red River Co-op and Audio and Lighting sponsor Brad Hirst/Royal LePage Prime Real Estate were also in attendance.
Donor Open House
Saturday’s open house brought together the many donors and partners who committed to the project and worked hard to see it through to reality. In attendance were those who contributed to the Founder’s Campaign by donating, naming a seat at The Garry, or becoming a sponsor. Anyone who donated to the campaign is recognized as a Founder and will be included on the Contributors Wall.
On both days, besides getting to see the newly renovated theatre, attendees were treated to a live performance by the Double Bourbon Duo and took in a City of Selkirk produced documentary that takes the audience behind the curtain, into the excitement, imagination and vision of recreating The Garry. It also shows the construction process and challenges of restoring an old building.
The city purchased the theatre in 2021 for $350,000 net plus closing costs before it could go up for sale on the open market. Single-screen theatres across the country were shuttering at the time, and Selkirk CAO Duane Nicol said the city didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to control the theatre’s destiny and involve the community in its future.
“It would be difficult to have a fulsome community conversation when you’re under the gun of a land sale,” Nicol said at the time.
“So in the case of the Garry, the city acted quickly because we didn’t want to have any regrets. The property never hit the open market, and now we can have proper conversations about what to do with a building that is a piece of Selkirk’s history and has provided an important service for decades.”
Once purchased, the city hired Urban Systems to help tap the community for their wishes for The Garry, which would be run as a non-profit community theatre. Citizens immediately embraced the idea and set what will likely be a long-standing record for response to a city survey with more than 1,100 weighing in on their approval of the purchase and thoughts on its future direction.
The public wanted a movie theatre but was also in favour of live performances and celebrating the arts and culture of the city and region.
Investing in our future
Johannson credits council with having the foresight to recognize the importance of the theatre to the people of Selkirk.
“I have to recognize the vision and leadership of Selkirk Council, for seeing the value in this project and making the decision to invest in the restoration of The Garry Theatre. This is not just an investment in The Garry, but an investment in arts and culture, community, and Selkirk as a whole.”
The work to transform the theatre into an accessible, modern building began in March of 2025. Renovations include an accessible entryway, wheelchair lift to access the theatre, dedicated accessible seating area, renovated accessible washrooms, new flooring and seating, roof repairs, HVAC system replacement, electrical system upgrades and aesthetic improvements.
Construction challenges and delays
Corey Gagne, the city’s Manager of Buildings and Fleet, says renovations of any kind tend to present unexpected challenges, but in the case of a 77-year-old building, the surprises were more plentiful.
“The building was old. It had good bones, but it was old,” said Gagne.
“Whenever you start renovating an older building you always run into all kinds of problems and surprises, and we sure did.”
One of these surprises was the discovery of an old coal chute room buried beneath the rear of the building. Decades ago, trucks would back up to the theatre and dump coal into this underground room, where it was used to fire the building’s furnaces.
“The room was sealed off long ago and we had no idea it was even there until we started construction,” Gagne said.
This discovery evolved into a much larger structural challenge. Cracks in the foundation of the wall near the former coal chute room raised concerns about whether its removal could affect the building’s structural integrity.
“Finding this coal chute room triggered a whole new round of investigation,” said Gagne.
“We had to bring in structural engineers and complete some more assessments to understand exactly what we were dealing with, and unfortunately, all of that takes time.”
The additional engineering reviews and foundation work caused significant delays in the renovation timeline.
A crash course in all things theatre
Kyla Ray, the city’s Manager of Cultural and Recreation Programs, said there was a steep learning curve, investigating and informing city staff on the workings of running a movie theatre, but everyone was game.
“There were multiple staff members from every city department who were hands-on in this project from start to finish and there were surprises at most turns, just due to the nature of the industry. There were so many aspects of movie theatres we simply didn’t know. Everyone who goes to the theatre knows the lights dim when the show’s about to start, and now we as city staff are aware of how to make that happen,” Ray laughed.
“We learned the specifics of things we’d never really thought about or had taken for granted just as patrons of movie theatres over the course of our lives, but now we know about ordering new movie theatre seats, and what to do to make the best popcorn. It’s been an education.”
Someone who does know those behind-the-scenes workings of a movie theatre is Julia Brown, hired as the theatre’s Executive Director by The Garry Theatre’s board in August. Originally from Winnipeg, Brown had been living on Vancouver Island for the last 10 years working as the Guest Services Manager at IMAX Victoria. She’s worked in the industry since changing her major to theatre in university, and her credentials include working as the Front of House Manager at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre where her duties included budgeting and supervising, as well as training and maintaining relations with 600 volunteer ushers.
The enthusiasm has never waned
Brown put out a call for volunteers for The Garry and said the initial enthusiasm that greeted the survey is still alive and well.
“I’ve had an amazing response,” Brown said.
“I’ve got over 70 people who’ve submitted their applications to me. It’s really good.”
Brown is creating teams to work together on specific nights of the week and each will have a leader who is in charge of that specific team and day.
“I’ve seen different models over the years but this one is from the Manitoba Theatre Centre and I worked with it back in the early 2000s and it was very functional and very popular. There was a huge waiting list to get on the volunteer team because you got to see the play when you volunteered, and at The Garry, people will get to see the film that’s running when they volunteer,” she said.
Brown also has hired eight part-time staff to work in the theatre, doing ushering, concessions and other operational jobs.
What city staff had to learn, and Brown already knew, was how to work with big movie studios, who they now have contracts with to access movies.
“Trying to understand the industry and the studio contracts and what they require was interesting,” Ray said.
“Generally, they are dealing with large cinemas so for an independent theatre it’s a lot to navigate.”
Building The Garry Theatre Brand
With a huge investment in the building, the city had to ensure The Garry had a memorable logo and brand that would immediately connect people with the theatre. Brand design company Relish was brought on board to create the new look logo which needed to pay homage to the theatre’s rich history and art deco style while updating the aesthetic to a contemporary standard. They delivered a simple design that easily lives in your mind and takes into consideration the former look and its evolution into the future.
A second logo was created by Sandra Barnes Design and it’s aimed at the kids. Barnes’s logo is full of energy and fun, featuring a tub of popcorn come to life, and according to Manager of City Engagement Vanessa Figus, items featuring the kids Garry logo are the most popular in the city’s swag store.
“It’s a personality that could one day be a candidate for a mascot,” Figus said.
“There’s so much potential for future marketing, merchandise, programming and events.”
With the Garry Theatre now taking the stage for its Second Act, the beloved Selkirk landmark is once again ready to do what is has done for generations: bring people together. Tickets for upcoming movies will be available for purchase soon, and before long, a familiar invitation will be heard again in Selkirk: “Meet me at The Garry.”
Categories: Garry Theatre Stage Notes, News Release
Tags: Duane NicolMayor Larry JohannsonThe Garry Theatre
