City Council to Approve Theater Renovation

The $51,000 Canton Theater renovation project should get final approval from the Canton City Council during the body's meeting Thursday night.

The renovation, first brought before the City Council in October, will allow the theater to screen movies with a new state of the art projector and screen. This added functionality will allow the historic building to host movie screenings and corporate meetings, bringing significant income to the city.

Ideas for movie screenings include making movies an integral part of the successful "First Fridays" events or establishing a childrens' movie festival during the summer months, when students are out of school.

Other items of interest on the board's agenda include a further discussion of the proposed elimination of the city pension plan for elected officials. The phasing out of the pension plan would come with term limits for elected officials along with a raise to keep Canton's elected official salaries competitive with other cities.

The Mayor and Council agreed during their last meeting and work session that the pension plan was no longer economically viable and current salaries do not properly compensate elected officials for the hours of work they put in to accomplish their jobs.

The meeting will be held at City Hall at 6 p.m. If you are unable to attend the meeting in person, Canton-Sixes Patch will carry a live stream of the proceedings, and an archived copy of the meeting will be available on the city's web site soon afterwards.