In June this year, Council approved a tender for the work from Colonial Building Restoration Ltd in the amount of $275,000 (plus HST) to restore the sandstone at the front of Victoria hall including the speakers’ balcony.  In July, the Victoria Hall Heritage Maintenance Trust Fund contributed $10,000 to this work and today, at 3:00 pm, the Victoria Hall Volunteers (VHV) contributed another $20,000.  In accepting the cheque, Mayor John Henderson said:  “I don’t know of another Town with this kind of support for heritage projects”.   The Victoria Hall Volunteers have a long history of supporting Victoria Hall with a total contribution to date of over $356,000. Today is the closest available to the 160th anniversary of the opening of… Read complete articleVictoria Hall Restoration Work gets another Contribution

The Cinemas at Northumberland Mall have been closed since March but are now re-opening with rules in place and limited screenings.  Starting on August 14, Rainbow will be open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday with matinees and early evening shows (no late shows).  The first two weeks will feature “Unhinged” and “Spongebob” – showtimes will be here when available. There will be a maximum of 50 people per auditorium so guests can social distance, and people will need to wear a face covering until they are seated – like in a restaurant, they can remove it while in their seats and eating snacks. That’s the plan for now, but it will likely change.  Updates by Rainbow will be on the… Read complete articleRainbow Cinemas to re-open

Movie theatres and Art Galleries are allowed to open provided they meet social distancing and other rules.  On August 4, Ken Prue’s Cobourg Loft is reopening with only a third of capacity and will respect all the rules.  He will be screening a full program but no live shows.  I understand live shows are harder since they need to generally fill most if not all seats to make them financially viable and that’s true for all theatres such as the Capitol.  The Art Gallery of Northumberland (AGN) is in Victoria Hall but it seems that they are opening up enough to let people visit the Art Gallery on the third floor.  To visit, you’ll need to make an appointment by… Read complete articleCobourg Loft and AGN Re-open

One of Cobourg’s few places to entertain yourself is now open for visitors albeit with Covid-19 rules in place.  The Sifton-Cook Museum, within walking distance of downtown (adjacent to the Legion), has a collection of displays telling a mix of stories covering Sports, the Military, Transportation and more.  They are open on Fridays & Saturdays to Thanksgiving from 10 – 5 and Sunday afternoons from 1 – 5.  This year they are also celebrating the completion of their roof project which included adding eavestroughs.  This was financed by donations from members, the Town of Cobourg and a Federal grant.  So on July 24, Sifton-Cook’s Treasurer Stanley Isherwood invited Mayor John Henderson and MP Philip Lawrence to the site and publicly… Read complete articleSifton-Cook Museum now open