I've been a Bonnyvillian now for nearly five months, and I have to say I've very much enjoyed my time in town thus far. Prior to moving here, I was warned that I was traveling ‘to the middle of nowhere' by a handful of people back in Ontario, but I decided I wanted to take the chance and see what northeastern Alberta had to offer – and boy am I happy that I did.
But that isn't the basis of this column today. Despite having nearly everything a man could ask for in town, Bonnyville is missing one thing, something that I'm sure 90 per cent of the community would enjoy making use of – a movie theatre.
Now, I appreciate that there is a movie theatre in Cold Lake – albeit a rather small one – but with the way Bonnyville has grown over the past few years I would have thought a large corporation in the cinematic industry would have taken advantage of the ‘wealth' in town.
When I lived in Ontario, I was blessed to live within a 25-minute drive of an 11-screen Cineplex. Sure, the ‘city' (if you can call Peterborough a city) had a population of just under 80,000, compared to Bonnyville's modest 6,000, but I'm sure a significant number of town residents would use the theatre on a weekly or even daily basis – similar to the Jr. A Pontiacs, who draw hundreds of fans to home games both during the week and on weekends.
I'd be willing to go out on a limb and say that should a movie theatre be constructed in Bonnyville, it would be very popular among the public, not just in Bonnyville, but in neighbouring communities like Glendon and even Cold Lake. I say that because the larger corporations release practically every new movie at the time it is distributed across the country, as well as providing more comfy, spacious theatres.
And it's not like this town doesn't have the space to accommodate such a building, you only have to look at the construction of the Centennial Centre and its future expansions for proof of that.
I think this is something that residents and council alike should be looking at seriously wanting to influence and bring in. The effect a new building and new entertainment can have on a town is surprising. It would bring jobs, money and happiness to town – it should be a no-brainer.
If I'm to believe what I've been told by a number of people during my brief time here, Bonnyville is the next ‘hot spot' in Canada and is on the verge of another ‘big boom'. It was only two weeks ago that Deputy Mayor John Irwin said “this is the most exciting time in this town's history”.
If that's the case, lets get up to date with the rest of the major communities in this country and bring a movie theatre to Bonnyville! Please!
