The Royal Theatre has delayed the rental hike that was planned for September.
The Royal McPherson Theatres Society (RMTS) is delaying a planned rental hike by two years, and delay initiating booking policies by three years.
Manager of External Affairs with the RMTS, Randy Joynt, says they 're raising fees because of a few issues.
"We need the theatre to be used more efficiently so that is serves the region more effectively. The region is growing, there's more pressures on the theatre, and we're finding that it isn't being used as efficiently as possible. So we're correcting that, we're making sure that that's happening in order to get other work on the stages. And yes, there is some financial issues at play. The theatres public funding has been frozen for the past 21 years."
The Victoria Symphony, Pacific Opera Victoria and Dance Victoria are among the local arts organizations that rent the space. Organizers were upset when the increase was announced last October.
Randy Joynt says a meeting between the groups the Royal & McPherson Theatres Society in January -- was productive.
"Our Board determined we were able to hold off on those increases and implementing the booking policies for a couple years. So I'm really pleased that we're able to do that. The organizations asked us for more time, they said 'We can adjust, we can make these adjustments, but we need more time to do so. We heard it --- and we've delayed the move."
He adds that although those groups are non-profits, they should be able to afford the increase, adding that it won't cause a loss of any performances.
"In fact the result is going to be more. It's going to be more performances from other organizations that aren't currently able to access the theatre, more performances for the citizens here, and really increased vibrancy in the region."
The 106 year old Royal Theatre has a capacity of 1,400, making it the largest soft-seat theatre on Vancouver Island. Joynt says the organizations that rent the theatre understand that the rent has to increase, and is confident that they will be able to find the resources to continue to perform there.