Just short of 50 years ago, the Slocum House was rescued from destruction by Hermine Decker, a theater arts instructor at Clark College, Robert Hidden, and John Broughter of the Fort Vancouver Historical Society. It was moved to its location and renovated to house a community theatre. The Slocum House Theatre Company proudly debuted their first production in 1972. All productions have been performed and directed by volunteers and it has continuously produced fine live theatre since then.
However, recently the theater board was notified by the city of Vancouver that its rental rates would be increasing as of January. The rent to the Slocum House is a whopping 400 percent what it was. This will effectively close this beloved theatre company. There will be no more entertaining and inspiring productions; gone will be the youth program that the Slocum House has offered during the summer, where young people can experience theatre from the creation of an idea through the performance.
A valuable community treasure will be lost if we allow the Slocum House Theatre to be closed. Please join me in expressing your disapproval to our mayor and city council. Remind them that this building was brought there specifically to be a community theatre.
Lois Lamkin
Vancouver
