The Sagebrush Theatre likely won’t re-open until this fall at the very earliest.

School Board Chair Kathleen Karpuk says the good news is the work to repair a cracked roof truss will begin next week.

“We awarded the contract to A&T Construction and the timeline is, from approximately when they get started, about 12 weeks.”

Karpuk says that puts the timeline to re-open the theatre to mid-October.

“We are hoping that we don’t have any surprises and that things go according to plan and that Sagebrush will re-open soon.”

She says the closure of the theatre has really been a headache for everything from concerts, theatre productions, and high school programs.

“It has definitely been a challenge for us. We have had to relocate our young people’s concerts and find alternate locations for them. The school district does use that theatre about 100 times a year. Bookings during the day for various events. It has definitely impacted the ability for the Kamloops School of the Arts and South Kamloops Senior Secondary drama classes to use it.”

The cracked roof truss was discovered in February and the theatre has been closed since. The school district says the repair will cost will come in at $900,000.

Managing director of the Western Canada Theatre Evan Klassen calls the reopening date a “very realistic timeline.”

“Obviously we were hoping to be in, back at the Sagebrush, a little bit earlier. There are some events that are affected by this new date, including our first production. But we are really hopeful that we’re still going to be able to squeak it in and be able to get our first show, which is Dracula, open in mid-October as planned.”

– with files from Colton Davies