iN PHOTOS: Former Dream Cafe in Penticton gets $10K to start its transformation

The iconic Dream Cafe in Penticton shut its doors in the fall, but a non-profit society just received a donation to kickstart the effort to turn the space into a community hub.

The Dream Society took over the cafe space at 67 Front Street after it shut down last September, and it just received $10,000 from the Community Foundation of the South Okanagan Similkameen to start renovating the space.

“It’s fantastic for us, because there’s a lot of startup costs, getting a new business and a venue renovation underway. But it’s probably even more valuable as a vote of confidence from the community,” The Dream Society’s president Kim Lymburner told iNFOnews.ca.

The Dream Society has raised $36,000 of its $500,000 goal.

Lymburner said this is the first step to making the cafe into something completely different that can serve the live music scene in the South Okanagan.

“It’s not the same old, same old. It’s a different group of people with different ideas. But we share one thing, and that’s a passion for live music and quality performances,” he said.

The Dream Cafe opened in 2001 and has hosted iconic musicians for roughly 25 years.

“They did an incredible job of creating a go to spot for live music and lovers of live music in Penticton,” he said.

Lymburner said the new vision is to renovate the space, change the layout to make two stages, open it seven days a week and give local artists a place to get started while still bringing in the high caliber performers the cafe was known for.

“We’re going to be working with contractors to build a beautiful new venue inside that space with two focuses,” he said. “One is quality audio and video in the space. And the second is community access… let the community groups come in and work with us on programming so we can have things going on every day while still having high quality shows.”

The society plans on lining up liquor and food licenses, sell merchandise, have ticketed events and sell memberships to keep the new venue alive once it gets going.

Lymburner said the society is made up of volunteers and they are looking for more support to hopefully open for business this fall.

“What we’re looking at is rolling out our campaign to acquire volunteers, to encourage community members to get on board with us and raise money through donations, memberships, sponsorships and so on,” he said. “We’re going to have hands full over the next little while.”