Vancouver city council is being asked to approve more than $2.8 in subsidies for the use of civic theatres.

The grant is proposed to cover the period between the coming fall and spring.

In a report to council, staff noted an “unprecedented demand for grant support” from users of civic theatres.

The report authored by Branislav Henselmann and Sandra Gajic, managing director of cultural services and director of civic theatres, respectively, explained that the increasing requirement is “due to a growing demand for live performance and film”.

According to the staff report included in council agenda Tuesday (July 11), theatre rental grants are non-cash grants that serve as “partial subsidy toward theatre rental costs and technical costs for cultural non-profit organizations to present their work to a broad public audience”.

The grants are for the use of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Orpheum, Vancouver Playhouse, and the Annex.

Henselmann and Gajic informed council that the grants remove “access barriers to civic spaces” by different communities in Vancouver.

They noted as an example that grant seekers this year “include 15 new first-time applicants from ethnically diverse backgrounds, as well as youth, aboriginal, trans, gender-variant, and two spirit communities”.

Henselmann and Gajic also wrote in their report that opening civic theatres to cultural nonprofits increases attendance at civic theatres.