Working on the WVS - Part the first
The Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts has two theatres currently on property: the legacy theatre, our 332-seat Winston V. Saunders main stage, and the Philip A. Burrows Black Box, which seats between 70 and 100, depending on show and seating (hint: the more comfortable you are, the fewer seats we have to sell).
The WVS is the original building on the premises. It was built in 1940, when the Nassau Improvement Association incorporated as the not-for-profit Dundas Civic Centre.
This 85-year old building has had its challenges, and our patrons and supporters will know already that COVID-19 was not kind to it. Between the leaking roof, the thirsty trees growing around and on the building, the defunct air conditioning and the munching termites, its future looked grim just four months ago.
This blog is telling the story of how we’re coming back from that. So far we’ve touched on all the areas around the main theatre. Now let’s talk about what we’ve done so far in the WVS, and what we plan to do.
Photo by Stanley Toogood, August 1940, from Historic Images
Photo of the 1978 Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts Supplement following the first renovation, 48 years ago.
People may have thought that our $400,000 fundraising target for this year was ambitious, or they may have considered the contribution of $340,000 we received from the Bahamas government was sufficient to meet our needs, or they may think that now we’ve got it we don’t need anything more.
Far from it!
That figure was what we needed to make sure the Dundas does not have to close its doors before its centenary, but it doesn’t begin to touch everything that we need to do around the premises. People who have been faithful in attending our performances know it’s not just the buildings that have deteriorated in the five years we have not had the revenue we need to cover our costs: it’s also the driveway, with potholes and trenches that you can lose your tires in; the grounds, whose lawns spring up in the rainy season faster than anyone can clean it; the perimeter fence, which was compromised in Hurricane Matthew when trees fell on it and which was further compromised by nearby residents seeking shortcuts to Mackey Street; the roofs on both buildings, which were great at letting us know what the weather was like outside as well as offering sanctuary to rodent and reptile families of various sizes; and any number of elderly trees near the buildings which, when looked at closely, are empires of termites.
So we’ve had to prioritize our projects. The WVS needs a lot of tender loving care. We started with what would make the most difference: repairing holes in the roof over the bathrooms left by actual hurricanes, replacing the bathrooms (which were older than most of our actors), and putting in the air conditioning.
The tarp Brian checked out
But we are working with a magnificent contractor. (Shoutout to Brian Reckley and his crew!!) From the get-go, Brian was looking for ways to make our dollars go further, and halfway into the bathroom project he told us that he thought that he had overquoted on the project. He looked up at the tarp that we had covering the northern-eastern end of the Dundas roof and said, “Y’all have any idea what’s under there?”
This was what was under the tarp.
Um.
No wonder when it rained, water dripped onto the stage. It’s right below that part. The tarp helped for sure, but it didn’t solve the problem.
“You know what?” Brian said. “I’m going to take the extra from the bathroom project and fix the roof.”
And so he did. Check out the gallery below. It’s roof repair stuff, with a couple of bathroom photos thrown in just for fun. And come back again for the next developments in our beloved WVS theatre.
