Spokane Valley Summer Theatre, Performing Arts Center call it quits

The community theater program in Spokane Valley is calling it quits.

On Friday morning, the Spokane Valley Performing Arts Center and Spokane Valley Summer Theatre announced they do not have enough funds to continue either program.

"Timelines and contracts have come due and there is a lack of financing available to keep the dream alive. We rallied time and time again over the past two and a half years to overcome the many and considerable obstacles that we encountered," the release said. "As a team, we thank each and every one of you who contributed and believed in the spirit of this project."

Gatieh Nacario, who performed in several productions the summer theater put on, said the news is devastating.

"I'm so heartbroken that after all the effort, it's ended after 10 seasons," Nacario said. "... After the formal announcement, I just sat quiet in my car. I wish they could continue."

He's not the only one who feels that way. Bee Aaron, who also performed in several SVST productions, said the theater was her safe space.

"There was never a day that I would leave that I didn't feel appreciated or that my time or talents weren't respected. They treat you like family," Aaron said.

Nacario said the theater was professional and holds a special place in his heart because it's where he first started performing when he moved from the Philippines to Spokane just before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Because of Spokane Valley Theatre, I started to invite my friends to productions because they wanted to see me perform live," Nacario said. "Now it's no longer here."

Nacario is set to play Donkey in "Shrek the Musical" at Aspire Community Theatre in Coeur d'Alene in May.

Spokane Valley Summer Theatre has been operating in the city for 10 years. During that time, the program moved between different high schools - most recently at University High.

The theater canceled its 2026 season after the Central Valley School District denied some of the dates the theater requested.

The theater program had also begun building a 59,000 -square -foot regional center in Spokane Valley in 2022, but a lack of funding halted its construction. The hope was that the theater program would use the performing arts center as a permanent home.

Phase 1 of the center was set to cost $32 million. The center raised $18.3 million on the center, being built at 13609 E. Mansfield Ave., The Spokesman-Review previously reported, and spent $13 million on construction.

After several years of stalled construction and a lack of funds, the center's executive creative director Yvonne Johnson requested a loan from Spokane Valley city leaders , asking for $28 million raised from the sale of bonds.

In March, the Spokane Valley City Council voted to not have a meeting with Johnson or the team for the center. A few days after the vote, Johnson issued a release stating that the bond was the last hope for the performing arts center.

According to Johnson, the land where the construction for the center sits will eventually be sold. Two deeds of trust on the project need to be addressed from the state of Washington and the city of Spokane Valley.

"It will take time and resources to work through this dissolution process with all of the parties involved," Johnson said.

The Spokane Valley Summer Theatre purchased the land for the center in 2002 for $1.75 million.

Johnson is planning on pursuing opportunities in other states, she said in an email to The Spokesman-Review.

But Aaron is convinced this isn't the end for the theater.

"It may be time to call it right now, but I believe that they need to exist and they'll find a way," Aaron said.

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