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CBC
12-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Evergreen Theatre Society shutting down after 34 years serving Calgary's arts community
The Evergreen Theatre Society is shutting down operations at the end of June after 34 years in business. The theatre group offered science programming in schools across Alberta, as well as accessible, affordable community spaces for art, theatre and dance. Sean Fraser, Evergreen's executive director, said the group was unable to renew a 10-year loan contract with the Social Enterprise Fund (SEF), an Alberta-based loan lender which invests in social enterprises and entrepreneurs. "It's been really disappointing," Fraser said. "Not only because of our space, but because that's sort of what's been going on in the arts and culture sector for many years." Fraser said Evergreen has paid over $1 million worth of interest on its $5.5 million loan since 2020, but SEF has decided to pull their money out of the project. "It's their right. It's their money and that's the way it goes," he said. "But because the building itself isn't valued at the amount that we borrowed, they will then actually come after Evergreen for the balance of the monies owed, which basically makes Evergreen Theatre… inoperable." In an emailed statement, SEF's director Ryan Young said that in the last 10 years, SEF has made "numerous efforts" to help Evergreen financially through nine extensions and amendments to the original loan agreement. "Despite these efforts, Evergreen was still unable to meet its loan commitments which led us to make the difficult decision to not renew the loan, which matured on March 15, 2025," Young's statement said. The loan, Fraser said, was meant to be part of a long-term plan to own a facility, pay off the SEF loan, and in turn, rely less on government funding to operate going forward — but a number of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, complicated that vision. The SEF has not shared plans yet for the building after June 30. Arts groups left to find an alternative space Evergreen offers musical theatre programming to students from kindergarten to Grade 6 on topics related to science and the environment. The 24,000-square-foot community arts space, located in Calgary's northeast Mayland Heights neighbourhood, houses various studios, a presentation theatre and office spaces. Fraser said they have anywhere from 80 to 100 clients who currently use the facility, and service more than 100,000 people each year. One of those clients is Cordelia Deano, who teaches with the Artistique Parents Association. "It really sucks," she said. "I found the space really nice and they did a really good job of what they do, especially providing us such low fees to rent out the room for an hour. And they're beautiful rooms — the rooms are huge, so it's nice. You can use it for anything." Deano said if they can't find an alternative space that's affordable, then won't be able to provide dance classes. A loss to the arts community "It's nothing short of devastating," said Ryan Gray, a freelance artist who works with Ghost River Theatre. "When we were rehearsing here last month, we were here twice a week during daytime hours and this place was always buzzing. "I would see all ages from babies to seniors, people with disabilities or special needs and a bit of everything: dance classes, yoga, presentations, rehearsals, singing lessons. There was always something going on." Gray remembers Evergreen Theatre touring productions back when he was in elementary school. Now, he and his colleagues rely on the space for rehearsals. "There's a real drastic shortage of rehearsal space in Calgary for artists, and especially affordable space for emerging artists and indie companies," he said. Shona Robinson brings her homeschooled children to the Evergreen facility for dance classes, and said losing the space is really unfortunate. "Even the building itself, it's been made for this reason," she said. "And whether they're gonna rip that out or something, that's just really sad. "A place that makes it so accessible to be able to dance and all these different arts. There's not many places in the city like that at all, or it's like those private-owned places but not a community space." After years of serving the community, Fraser said he's proud of the work Evergreen accomplished. "We were around for 10 years [at the current community space], plus the time with the other spaces. So we've got nothing to be ashamed of."
Calgary Herald
07-05-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
'Disheartening': Evergreen theatre to close after 34 years in business
A beloved Calgary theatre society and community arts space will close its doors this summer, after more than three decades of operations. Article content Article content On May 1, the Evergreen Theatre Society (ETS) said it would be shut down after 34 years in business on June 30, after being unable to renew a loan contract with the Social Enterprise Fund. Article content The news has come as a shock to individuals, families and resident community groups who have long used the studio spaces, according to Sean Fraser, ETS executive director. Article content Article content 'One of the things that Evergreen has been able to do is create a space not only for the arts, but also for the underserviced cultural communities,' he said. 'It's been very disheartening, because people felt Evergreen was stable and thought that we'd be around forever.' Article content More than 80 community groups and arts companies use the studio spaces to book rehearsals, conduct workshops and host performances. Its impending closure has left many groups scrambling to find affordable alternatives. Article content Ishita Singla, founder and artistic director of Madhuban Performing Arts, a South Asian dance collective, says she has been writing and collecting letters advocating to government officials to keep the space open. Article content 'Evergreen has been a space that we can afford,' she said. 'It's accessible, it's welcome, it doesn't feel like you're an alien there because there are people who look like you. It's representative of the entire dance community in Calgary.' Article content Article content Article content The decision to shut the studios comes after 'countless discussions and appeals' to the Social Enterprise Fund, a loan fund organization based in Edmonton, to reverse the decision to not renew with Evergreen. Article content The company owes Edmonton Community Foundation, one of the primary contributors to the SEF, $5.5 million. Article content It isn't clear why the loan fund didn't want to renew the contract terms, Fraser said. The contract dates to COVID times when the idea was born to create a space that could be used by underserviced groups in the arts and community space. Article content The loan was meant to be a 'temporary bridge' to get them where they want to be, he said, with talks with the city underway around the same time to provide financial commitments. Article content However, the talks fell through, leaving the company dependent on the loan to financially back operations. Multiple efforts to get government officials to help with funding throughout the years also failed, as officials were deterred by the debt accumulating from the loan fund, Fraser said.
