Effie Arts Collective to host final event as affordable housing project set to take centre stage

“It hasn’t… it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” he added of the upcoming closure. “We’ve been so busy with shows the last two weeks that we haven’t really had a chance to think about what it’s going to be like on Monday.”

The Effie, as its known, has called 422 Tranquille Road home since late 2021. It moved into the space formerly called the Stage House Theatre, which will be making way for a new 53-unit cooperative housing project. While co-owner Kayly Erno knew this day was always going to come, it doesn’t make it any less emotional.

“This space has been great but it’s showing its age,” Erno said. “It seems like it’s trying to make it easy for us to let go and say goodbye. There are a lot of ghosts in the wiring and the electrical, and it plays games with us a lot.”

“It’s time for this building to go down. We would have to sink a lot of money in it for it to keep going, so it’s a blessing and a curse.”

There were efforts underway to try and keep the Effie – and Hatsuki Sushi – in the new building, which will also include some ground floor commercial space, but parking requirements and other city regulations meant that did not come to fruition.

“We had collaborative conversations with the tenants very early on in the planning process to see if we could determine a path forward to bring them back,” Lindsay Harris, the Executive Director at the Propolis Cooperative Housing Society, said. “There are so many complexities when you’re dealing with new construction plus the downtime they would have had with their businesses while waiting for the new building.”

Construction to begin this year

A community bond campaign raised $1.1 million toward the new housing development last year. Construction is expected to start this fall, and Harris said the goal is to get people in the space by early 2028.

“We’ll still have two small commercial units here, and we’re excited about that because it adds walkability and vibrancy to the street,” Harris said. “We don’t have determined plans about who those tenants will be yet, but we’re excited to bring in businesses that are going to make this street as lively as it currently is.”

Harris said Propolis is excited to finally be moving ahead with its new project, but added the impending change is bittersweet.

“The Effie has been a stand out for this neighbourhood and we’ve supported them while they’ve been here,” she said. “We’re eager to support them as they move forward.”

A rendering of the proposed development at 422 Tranquille Road in Kamloops. (Image Credit: Empacta Development via City of Kamloops)

New North Shore Performance Space?

As Shufletoski and Erno prepare for the Effie to exit stage right, they hope to find a new space to call home, potentially as soon as this fall, but those details have yet to be finalized.

“Any space we find that’s big enough for us, it usually hasn’t been a theater, so we have to change the use of the space and bring it up to code, and that’s a lot,” Erno said. “Finding a space where you don’t have to make the changes would be great, but those are few and far between.”

“We’re also trying to find a way to build new that isn’t expensive but whether that will meet the city’s requirements or not is yet to be seen.”

While they’re open to finding space anywhere in Kamloops, the goal is to try and remain on the North Shore.

“The more time I spend on the North Shore, the more I really fall in love with it,” Shufletoski said. “It really does seem like the place to be. But to achieve our goals, do we have to maybe go more central? We’re not sure yet.”

Erno also said the Effie as it existed would not have been possible with Propolis.

“They were the ones that got us into this space. They wanted a theatre in the bottom of their new building, so they wanted one in this old building to prove that a theatre could work and that it would be good for the North Shore,” Erno said.

“They’ve been awesome landlords and that’s what we need – an awesome landlord who’s going to help the arts stay alive and flourish in the future.”

Inside the green room at the Effie Arts Collective in Kamloops. (Image Credit: Anthony Corea/CFJC Today)

by Victor Kaisar

Effie Arts Collective to host final event as affordable housing project set to take centre stage

Construction to begin this year

New North Shore Performance Space?

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