A New Westminster school trustee predicts that the board of education, the City of New Westminster, and the B.C. government will sign an agreement within two months to replace the 1,260-seat Massey Theatre.

Casey Cook told the Straight in a phone interview that a new $20-million theatre with 1,000 seats will be part of the New Westminster Secondary School replacement project on the same city block.

“There is still some due diligence on the site that needs to be done in terms of ground-penetrating radar,” Cook said. "But the estimation is that by May, early June, we will be signing a project agreement."

According to him, the province will contribute $12 million. The city will kick in $8 million and take over operating the theatre from the board of education.

Jessica Schneider, executive director of the Massey Theatre Society, told the Straight by phone that some of the old building’s design elements and motifs will be included in the new structure.

Her organization wants to ensure that local arts groups aren’t left in the lurch by any delay between the demolition and completion of the new theatre.

“We have a ballet, we have a symphony, and we have a bunch of big stuff,” Schneider said. “With a two-year gap for construction, they’re all at great risk because obviously they’re homegrown, they’re local, and even if they could transition, their audiences may not.”

She said that it would have cost approximately $13 million to bring the old theatre up to code. 

Schneider noted that there's value in the city taking over the operation of the new theatre on school-district land with provincial funding because it’s a community facility used by educational and provincial groups.

“It really should be funded in all those three ways,” Schneider said. “And in the current situation, that was never going to happen.”

A report by Atelier Pacific Architecture concluded in 2009 that it would take $18.2 to upgrade the Massey Theatre, which opened in New Westminster in 1949.

Areas of concern included poor seismic resistance, asbestos, PCBs, lead, mercury, and stored chemicals, as well as electrical problems and a need for mechanical upgrades, including a new rooftop air-handling unit.

The old theatre shares the same block as New Westminster secondary school, a skate park, and Mercer Stadium.

Half of the land on the block bounded by 8th and 10th avenues and 6th and 8th streets is owned by the city; the other half is owned by the board of education.

The school was built on top of the unmarked graves of marginalized residents, including Chinese pioneers.

The new project is expected to free up the cemetary, Schneider said.

"There is a staging issue around construction," she revealed.

Meanwhile, the city is developing a flexible 350-seat nonproscenium theatre in the Anvil Centre in downtown New Westminster on Columbia Street. This facility will also include conference and meeting facilities, a civic art gallery, the city's museum and archives, and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

Schneider said there are advantages in having the city responsible for the management of the downtown theatre along with the replacement for the Massey Theatre.

"Our position as an organization has been that this proposal could potentially solve a lot of problems," she stated. "That might just make it worthwhile in terms of the loss."

The city recently sold the office component above the Anvil Centre, known as Merchant Square, for $36.5 million to Kingswood Capital, which is controlled by entrepreneur Joe Segal, and Duke Holdings.