More financial details needed before council considers forgiving loan to Palace Theatre
The Palace Theatre remains financially ‘solid’ according to its board chair, despite being closed for most of the pandemic, and seeking forgiveness of a loan from City Hall.
“We are solid, we are secure. We have just completed our annual audit and it had a positive outcome,” Chair Kelli Gough tells CTV News.
In 2015, a $100,000 interest-free loan was provided by council to repair the historic theatre after it suffered significant water damage.
Monthly payments are $417, but have been deferred by council since April 2020.
As the theatre begins to reopen after a year and a half of pandemic dormancy, a political push is underway to forgive the remaining $78,750.
Gough says the financial relief would aid reopening, “We have urgent needs (with) the building, it would also potentially enable us to hire some staff to help us because during the COVID (pandemic) we had to dismiss all of our staff.”
At Tuesday’s council meeting, Ward 4’s Jesse Helmer expressed frustration when colleagues suggested getting more information during budget deliberations later this year.
“They’ve been shut for almost two years. they don’t have a lot of money to pay us back, this would really help them. That’s the business case,” asserted Helmer.
Council referred the issue to civic administration for more financial details ahead of an upcoming Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee meeting.
The Palace Theatre was also given another 180-day extension to its loan repayments
“We’re blessed in London to have a really dynamic arts and entertainment sector,” says Councillor Steve Lehman two days later.
Lehman says he was hesitant to forgive the loan without more detailed financial information.
“It’s important for me to see in this case, more financial information than we had at that time,” he says.
Terms of the interest-free loan include the Palace Theatre providing its financial statements to city hall by September 30 each year.
The city treasurer says she has not yet received those documents.
Gough says the documents are expected to be approved at a board meeting this week, and then submitted to city hall.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.