CORNWALL, Ontario – Relics from the Capitol Theatre in Cornwall, including the glass-encased box office that was a popular fixture downtown, will not be sold.
City council has agreed to house all the relics from the downtown theatre that was torn down in the 1980s in the basement of the Cornwall Public Library, in hopes that one day they can be incorporated into the creation of a new arts and culture centre in the city.
There had been some talk of holding an auction for some of the items, which would be sold to private parties.
No way, said city councillors this week.
“In this city we have given away a lot of our history and torn it down…and we need to stop that,” said Coun. Justin Towndale.
He found support from fellow rookie Coun. Claude McIntosh.
“That option of selling them is ridiculous,” he said.
Many of the theatre relics were already housed in the library basement, but the most prized piece, the box office, had somehow found its way into the basement at the Weave Shed in the east end.
The box office and other pieces will be moved to the library shortly.
“Here’s a really great piece of history. How many of those ticket booths are still around and we’re hiding it in a basement,” said McIntosh.
While the timeline for the creation of an arts centre is still very much up in the air, councillors agreed to hold the pieces at the library for at least two years.
It’s likely that time could be extended if an arts centre is still not yet ready in two years.
It will cost the city about $2,000 to move the relics to the library, which already has some of the plaster clamshell-like lighting accoutrements, as well as a lighting projector.
Debbie Ledoux, a member of Heritage Cornwall, was pleased that the pieces will at least have a home for the foreseeable future.
“It’s dry down there, and the stuff is being kept up off the floor,” she said.
