The Kenai City Council agreed to conditionally donate certain city owned property to the Triumvirate Theatre for the development of a theatre facility. City Municipal Code says to donate real property that is no longer needed for a public purpose, to a non-profit corporation for consideration. There was a need for a community theatre in the city of Kenai after the fire that destroyed the site of the former located in Nikiski.
Joe Rizzo, on behalf of the Triumvirate Theatre spoke to the City Council:
“I was recently on a trip to go see grandkids in the lower 48. Our travels took us to Idaho, Utah and Colorado. It was very evident to me as we stayed in the various communities, which communities had vision and took advantage of the things that made their community great and which ones did not and I was thinking a lot about this facility being in Kenai and how, with the right vision, how it really could transform this community into one that really nurtures kids and really can make a big economic impact on the community and a lot of the businesses here.”
Rizzo said he’s really excited about seeing this vision realized:
“I think that it would be a facility unlike any other in Kenai. With the purpose of catching kids and making sure that no child in this community falls through the cracks and I think that if this is approved tonight, I think we’re going to be able to move forward with this. All of these things show great support to the foundations and the corporations that we desperately need to make this happen. This building is going to be the largest project that we’ve ever taken on.”
The city, in passing an amended version of Ordinance No. 3219-2021, agreed to donate two acres to the north of Daubensbeck Park to construct a theatre facility. The theatre had been looking for a new home since the February 20, 2021 fire, which resulted in a complete loss of the 5,000 square foot theatre facility.