Council with the Municipality of Tweed turned down a request to forgive a loan with the Tweed & Company Theatre regarding the Outdoor Stage.
The Outdoor Stage was completed in 2023, and ownership of the stage was transferred to the municipality with the theatre managing the facility, including programming and rentals.
Financing for the stage was through a combination of a provincial grant and a loan in the amount of $50,000 to Tweed & Company Theatre (T&CT) to complete the project.
In a report to council, it is stated that there is currently $37,500 remaining on the loan.
As part of the agreement, T&CT pays $1,250 quarterly to the municipality with an amortization period of 10 years with the loan being fully paid by the end of 2033.
In November 2025, council received correspondence from the theatre to have management and programming of the stage turned back to the municipality and for the loan agreement to be alleviated in whole or in part from future financial obligations.
Staff recommended that council agree to take on the management and programming, but deny the request to forgive the loan.
Council approved the motion, with Mayor Don DeGenova telling Quinte News that the reason to not approve the loan forgiveness was due to the financial situation of the municipality.
“We couldn’t forgive that loan, and so it was decided that we wouldn’t at this time,” Mayor DeGenova tells Quinte News.
“They had asked that we would take over the bookings for the stage, and we agreed that we would do that. But we would start doing that in the next term, so that we could allocate funds to ensure that we have the proper resources to take on the booking. So we did take that from them, so they don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
