In June of 1988, I was the City’s Marketing Officer, helping with the opening of the new Nepean City Hall at 101 Centrepointe Drive, featuring offices for city staff, a 900+ seat theatre, a public library, multi-purpose council chamber, and visual arts gallery. Centrepointe Theatre signaled an impressive step forward for the performing arts in the region, as it provided access to professional-level facilities to dozens of community groups. A black tie event to open the space featured a performance by Ottawa native Rich Little in a performance of Peter and the Wolf, accompanied by the Nepean Philharmonic Orchestra. Funds were raised to create the Nepean Endowment Fund for the Performing Arts, providing support to dozens of community arts groups.
In fact, as a PR practitioner, I loved the fact that the story of Centrepointe Theatre we were telling was the story of its place in the community. The Box Office, front of house and production facilities were operated with the support of a dedicated corps of volunteers who received training from experienced professionals. Many a budding director, set designer, and producer cut his or her chops on a Nepean Little Theatre or Les Petits Ballets show. By building shows from the ground up, encouraging local talent, Centrepointe Theatre, in the 20 years since its opening, has put a real sense of community into the community arts scene in Ottawa.
This philosophy was very easy for me to embrace as a budding PR practitioner, and I willingly subscribed to the first season, and sponsored a seat in the theatre. My name is still inscribed on one of its seats as a founding member of the endowment fund, and I now look forward to supporting the new Shenkman Arts Centre in Orleans, built in that same spirit these twenty years later.
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