Three Theatres
More screens mean more choice: longer film runs, room for smaller titles, and different films and events happening at the same time.
A Home for Our Imaginations
Help finish Nelson’s historic Civic Theatre: three screens, improved accessibility, and more room for film, festivals, learning, and community life in the Kootenays.
$7.5M
campaign goal
$5M
raised and secured
$2.5M
approximately still to raise
Now Under Construction
Construction is underway on The Civic Theatre’s redevelopment, following the public groundbreaking on April 29, 2026. The work will preserve the theatre’s historic character while creating three flexible theatres, a new lobby, and better access throughout the building.
The main theatre closed in 2024 for the City of Nelson’s structural work. NCTS continues to offer films at The Shoebox and The Chapel, alongside Reo’s Video and community programs.
Target reopening: June 2027.
What We Are Building
Better Access
An elevator, accessible seating, and improved washrooms will make the theatre welcoming and usable for more people.
A Renewed Building
Updated mechanical, electrical, and technical systems will improve efficiency and day-to-day operation. A new lobby and concession will give audiences space to gather before and after the show.
More Than Movies
Flexible spaces will support festivals, talks, workshops, youth programs, artist residencies, private screenings, and community events alongside regular films.
Built by Community
NCTS began with neighbours coming together to save The Civic Theatre. Volunteers, audiences, businesses, donors, and funders have kept that work going. The redevelopment builds on what this community started.
At The Civic, a film can become a conversation with the person beside you. A festival can introduce a local filmmaker to an audience. A workshop can give someone their first chance to make something of their own.
That is what “A Home for Our Imaginations” means: a place to share stories, see the world through someone else’s eyes, and discover what we might create together.
Help Us Finish It
Make a Gift
One-time and monthly gifts at every level help move the campaign forward.
DonateDedicate a Seat
Choose a seat for $1,000.00 and add a dedication for yourself, your family, your business, or someone you want to honour. Monthly payments are available; recognition is displayed for five years.
Choose Your SeatMajor Gifts & Naming
Contact Eleanor Stacey about a major gift, corporate contribution, partnership, or naming a space in the renewed theatre.
Contact EleanorCommunity Partners
Bringing The Civic Theatre back to our community takes more than construction funding. It also takes the people and organizational capacity needed to carry the redevelopment through to reopening.
We’re grateful to the community organizations stepping forward to support this work. Whether their fundraising supports urgent operations or capital redevelopment, both contribute to the same goal: a reopened, revitalized and more sustainable Civic Theatre.
Help Bring Us Home
Is your service club, business or community organization interested in helping bring The Civic Theatre back?
We’re welcoming community fundraising partners who can support our urgent operating needs, the capital redevelopment or both.
Contributions toward either need will count toward a community partner’s cumulative recognition value for the overall project.
Get in touch to explore how your organization can help and how we’ll recognize your contribution.
Become a Community PartnerGood Questions
Will the new Civic still feel like our Civic?
Yes. The renovation keeps the shared feeling of The Civic while making the building more accessible, comfortable, flexible, and active.
Why three theatres?
Three screens create financial and programming flexibility: more showtimes, longer runs, community bookings, private rentals, and space for different audiences at once.
What happens besides movies?
Expect festivals, workshops, livestreams, youth programs, artist residencies, community gatherings, and creative events alongside regular film programming.
How is the project funded?
Our campaign goal is about $7.5 million. Approximately $5 million has been raised and secured toward construction.
How can I help now?
Memberships and attending NCTS screenings at The Shoebox and The Chapel support our work during the closure.