The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A concerned Superintendent of Schools Blaine Veitch hopes for larger crowds this fall when the Hapnot Theatre reopens after showing red ink last fiscal year. Owned by the school division, the movie theatre based in Hapnot Collegiate generated a net loss of $1,185 in 2003-04. The loss was covered with money from a reserve fund, which now stands at just $354. "Attendance has been fairly consistent, but I think our hope was, after the initial year, that we would see an increase in attendance, and that hasn't happened," said Veitch. "Our revenue comes from people that pay admission and buy popcorn. When there are less dollars to be split up, we will have less to operate, and at some point, we would have to look at, is it viable to keep running?" The superintendent said the level of interest beyond a core group of moviegoers has not been great and encouraged anyone who hasn't been to the theatre to give it a try. "It's a competitive field [for entertainment dollars]," said Veitch. "We think we offer a different product that you can't get anywhere else. See 'Big' P.# Con't from P.# "Some shows, in my mind, need to be seen on the big screen." One way to help the operation, he suggested, would be for the school division to restructure its loan agreement with the theatre. Currently, the first 20 per cent of profits must be given to the division to pay off a loan of some $90,000 granted to establish the theatre in 2001. The balance of the loan now stands at $61,528. "There is a possibility that the division could reduce the amount that they're taking, which means the repayment would take longer," said Veitch, stressing, however, that "it's not a huge amount of money." Theatre financial statements show the operation brought in revenues of $25,156 in 2003-04 while operating expenses totaled $26,341. The bulk of the money went to management fees and equipment rentals. Other than providing local film buffs with the latest Hollywood offerings, the theatre is also an educational tool for some Hapnot students who work there through their business education program. "Students are getting credit, they're getting exposed to practical business operations and learning how to run a business," said Veitch.
