Meeting held to find solutions for Turtle Island Theatre

12/15/2010

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) would like to inform the community that a meeting was held this morning to discuss the issues surrounding the closure of the Kateri Hall, which is the home of the Turtle Island Theatre Company.

The Hall was closed on November 22 by the Kahnawake Fire Brigade, citing safety concerns. This caused the cancellation of three productions.

The MCK has taken on a role to facilitate discussion between the various organizations involved or affected by the closure. Today’s meeting included representatives of Turtle Island Theatre, Fire Brigade, Shakotiia’takehnhas Community Services, Catholic Church, and Community Protection Unit, along with Chiefs Clinton Phillips, Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer and John Dee Delormier.

“Our goal is to get this theatre reopened as soon as possible in order to maintain the momentum and good will we’ve worked so hard to build,” said Turtle Island Theatre Director Kevin John Saylor. “Having everyone together in one room to discuss the issue is a good start.”

“While we maintain that safety is the prime concern, we also realize just how important the theatre has become to Kahnawà:ke,” said Fire Chief David Scott.

“It was very productive,” said Chief Delormier of today’s meeting. “We agreed to create a small team who will meet on January 5th to begin looking at ways of solving the issues.”

It has been estimated that it may cost about $500,000 to bring the building up to the current standards needed to operate.

“Let’s be honest: it’s a scary number,” added Chief Delormier. “This is the main reason that it’s so important for everyone to work together. The Theatre is too important to this community to let it slip away.”

Note: in the new episode of KTV, KFB Fire Chief Davis Scott explains the reasons for the closure, while Kathy Jacobs of Turtle Island’s board of directors reiterates their support of the safety aspects but explains that they were unaware of many of the items needed to bring the building up to code. KTV is broadcast daily at noon and 5pm on CKER, Channel 3.