City Centre Stage is nearing completion as the new signs were recently hung on the building.

The signs are about 32 ft. long and 3 ft. high and were designed by local company The Little House of Neon Signs.

Construction began on the old Uptown Theatre in January and will now be the new Central Alberta Theatre (CAT) main stage.

CAT received $35,000 in grant money, and was also given a $40,000 loan from the City of Red Deer that the theatre group must repay over a four- year period.

The scheduled grand opening is set to be in September and William Trefry, executive director for CAT says that almost everyone is excited.

“This is an end of an era for the old Uptown Cinema, which was an intricate part of the downtown core for 30 years. To have it rebranded there are of course a bag of mixed emotions.”

CAT has also partnered with Ignition Theatre, who used to perform at The Matchbox.

All tickets for CAT, the Red Deer Memorial Centre and the Centre City Stage will be sold through the box office at their new location.

“We are still in the finishing stages,” said Trefry. “We have a lot of acoustic treatments and production sound and lighting to do, but so far everything is on schedule.”

The main auditorium will seat 292 people while the main multi-function room will seat 110. The smaller cinema will seat 107.

The building’s largest theatre is being converted to the main stage, but two screens will be maintained where films can be shown.

The new season is scheduled to begin in October.

“We are thankful for everyone’s continuous support and the excitement is building and growing towards our grand opening,” said Trefry.

tsigurdson@reddeerexpress.com