The City of Lloydminster is looking to partner with the Vic Juba Community Theatre as a host for concerts inside the new Cenovus Energy Hub.
Council heard the news about the potential agreement at the Aug. 11 governance and priorities committee meeting.
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The city hopes to use the theatre team’s expertise to bring three concerts a year at the new arena to life.
“There was conversations in administration to look at options of how to best manage events outside our daily realm,” said Mayor Gerald Aalbers. “They reached out to the Vic Juba (Community Theatre) and after a year of discussing, Vic Juba saw the benefits.”
The theatre proved it could host bigger concerts when Brent Kissel came to the Lloydminster Exhibition last year.
While council hasn’t given any direction to administration regarding the agreement, they did get to hear about some of the details.
The term for the agreement would be three years, running from Jan. 1, 2026 to Dec. 31, 2028. The city would host up to three concerts annually at the new arena with an annual payment of $31,000 to the theatre for their role.
Concerts that exceed the planned three per year would incur an additional $23,000 per concert. There is also a profit-sharing arrangement, with 20 per cent of the net profit from each concert paid to the theatre, provided the event is profitable.
According to council documents, administration is currently working on a concert for December, spring and summer 2026.
When it comes to the future of which facility will host what concert, Aalbers says it comes down to the size of the concert. The Vic Juba Community Theatre has 550 seats, while the Cenovus Energy Hub can have up to 4,500 with floor seats.
The item is expected to return at a future council meeting for decision. The theatre board will also need to approve the agreement for it to move forward.
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