Yellowknife (May 19/06) - A new and improved Northern Arts and Cultural Centre is ready for an audience - more than $300,000 later.

Work wrapped up this week on a series of sound, lighting and other technical upgrades that will bring the theatre up to "world class standards," according to NACC executive director Ben Nind.

Long-time Northern Arts and Cultural Centre volunteer Brian Wainwright shows off the upper reaches of the theatre, where 26 new line sets (just one of many features of a $320,000 upgrade) will give audiences a lot more to look at onstage. - Adam Johnson/NNSL photo Where the money went (note: all costs are approximate) Lighting -- $120,000 Line Sets -- $102,000 Sound -- $58,000 Curtains -- $35,000 Storage Units -- $9,000 Administration costs -- $10,000

The upgrades include a digitally-controlled lighting system with new lights, a system to aid the hard of hearing, a new soundboard, speakers, mixers, curtains and line sets, which raise and lower props and backgrounds onto the stage.

It was this last feature that long-time NACC volunteer Brian Wainwright was most proud to show off, during a first-hand (and high-altitude) tour of the theatre's upper reaches.

He said the theatre had been upgraded from 5 line sets to 26. This means the theatre now has the ability to raise and lower as many as 26 curtains, backgrounds and props (depending on the show), each weighing up to 450 kg.

Sir John high school's production of Romeo and Winifred was the test run of this new system, he said, and it took nine people to manage some of the set changes.

"We didn't even have nine people in the crew," he said, so actors had to run the lines for the play's complex sets and props, often in full costume.

"We couldn't have even dreamed of that last year," he said. "We can go much farther than that now."

Beyond the visible upgrades, the work allowed the theatre to deal with small issues that had been quietly festering over the years, such as a non-functioning hard of hearing system, "possessed" light switches and the infamous "NACC buzz."

"Now it's not patchwork," Nind said, "now it's a clean system."

Funding for the project was approved in December, and came from four sources: the federal government's Department of Canadian Heritage ($235,000), the GNWT Department of Education, Culture and Employment ($50,000), the City of Yellowknife ($20,000), GST rebates ($12,000) and from NACC itself ($3,000).

The first show to test out the upgrades will be Turtle Gals, a song, dance, and storytelling group that performs tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m.