Play has resumed for Charlottetown’s first large-scale Chase-the-Ace Lottery. The Confederation Centre’s ‘Chase-the-Ace for the Arts’ fundraiser for theatre improvements is held every Tuesday night in Studio 1, beside Mavor’s. Ticket sales run from 7 to 8:35 p.m. each night, with full bar service and board games on offer. The winning draw is held at 8:45 p.m.

Chase-the-Ace is a classic card game that caught fire as a charity fundraiser in the Maritimes over the past year. The game is similar to a 50/50 draw, but has a twist — weekly ticket sales are split with 50% going to the fundraising charity, 30% being pooled into the jackpot, and 20% going to the weekly winning ticket holder, who also gets the chance to draw a card from the deck.

As weeks go on without the Ace of Hearts being drawn, the jackpot grows and the deck diminishes. The Centre has chosen an Anne of Green Gables themed deck of cards, with the hearts suit as jackpot trigger, hoping for good fortune with ‘hearts for the arts.’

Proceeds from the lottery will be put towards the $5-million cost of Phase Two improvements to the Homburg Theatre. The theatre closed in December for four months of essential restoration work to the back-of-stage, including rigging, hanging, and fly systems, access and safety equipment, and needed infrastructure upgrades.

While the public areas of the 1,100-seat theatre recently underwent significant restorations, the stage facilities and back stage areas have not seen major enhancements since the Island’s largest theatre first opened in 1964.