Bus Stop Theatre celebrates wins ahead of HRM funding decision

An annual fundraiser at Halifax’s Bus Stop Theatre marks the end of a big year in a campaign to raise $1.2 million to buy their building, but the push isn’t over yet.

The Bus Stop Theatre Co-operative hosted its 3rd annual Great Big Bus Stop Basket Auction Sunday night. The crowd bid on gift baskets prepared by members of the co-operative, local businesses and organizations, raising $4,000 — double their goal for the evening.

While these funds will go toward theatre operations, Sébastien Labelle, executive director of the co-operative, says it’s this kind of community support that continues to drive the campaign to buy the building before July, when the theatre’s lease ends.

“It’s not just a pipe dream or a case of ‘if we build it, they will come,’” says Labelle. “People are knocking at our door, looking for space to perform, to hold events, and there’s really too few of these kinds of spaces in the city.”

Last spring, Halifax regional council voted 13-1 to contribute $125,000 each year for two years for the co-operative to buy, renovate and later expand the theatre at 2203 Gottingen St., pending review of additional documentation.

In January, city staff is set to recommend to council whether to move forward with the funding.

Labelle says that despite the positive reception so far, the future of the theatre is still not guaranteed. The co-operative will be requesting $355,000 from the federal department of Canadian Heritage and $355,000 from Nova Scotia Communities, Culture and Heritage — funding that is contingent on the city’s commitment.

A community’s theatre

Stoo Metz, a full-time professional photographer, is a big supporter of the Bus Stop.

“If we lose the Bus Stop Theatre, what do we do then?” says Metz, who takes photos of independent theatre productions at the Bus Stop and charges only what the companies can afford.

“Everybody here tonight has that in the back of their head. We’ve all benefited from this place in some way, it’s extremely vital that we all do our part to make it so that it still exists for generations to come.”

The Bus Stop has been operating since 2003. It is the “only independently operated affordable, accessible, professionally equipped black-box space in Halifax,” as stated on the theatre’s website. It rents to independent theatre companies and performers and produces its own shows and workshops.

This year, the number of events at the theatre increased by more than 50 per cent, with 150 separate events hosted in the space, compared to 98 events in 2018. Labelle says they had to decline or defer 226 rental days this year because of a lack of space.

April Hubbard has been performing in and attending shows at the theatre since it opened. She says numbers like these show the momentum behind the Bus Stop is strong and growing.

“A lot of people in the community want to come together and support them,” says Hubbard. “We just really need to put that push on and make sure that the officials see that it’s important to our community and see that we really need it here.”

Hubbard has worked with the Halifax Fringe Festival for 16 years. She says theatre spaces that are both independent and accessible are critical, but quickly disappearing.

“As a wheelchair user, that’s really important for me, to be able to have a space where I can have events, come together with my community and talk about those things that are important to us,” says Hubbard. “That doesn’t really exist anywhere else in Halifax.”

When it comes to 2020, Labelle is hopeful. On Monday, he found out about a $25,000 donation to the theatre’s capital campaign.

He says he’s most looking forward to “being able to breathe again.”

“So much of our energy is directed towards saving the space,” says Labelle, “but once we’ve crossed that, all that energy can now be directed to having it flourish and that’s what I’m really excited about.”