Sarnia's Imperial Theatre has now given away over $1.5-million through its monthly 50/50 draws.
On Thursday, the theatre announced that Jim Morrison won the August pot of $82,480.
Executive Director Brian Austin said he never thought the 50/50 would be so successful.
"Our early projections when I first proposed it, we thought we would make about $10,000 growth a month, so we would split that $10,000. We were seeing those types of numbers early on, and then in February it just blew up when the jackpot grew to a whopping $408,000."
The March jackpot reached $317,000, followed by a total of $233,420 in April. The August jackpot marked the seventh straight month the raffle was over $80,000.
Austin said the initiative has really put the theatre's capital plans way ahead.
"It has enabled us to do a complete replacement of the seats, update all of the bathrooms and all of the public spaces, we have the worked booked to complete the fifth phase of our roof replacement, which will mean that the roof is complete, we've replaced our PA system."
He added that the theatre is also looking at replacing the theatrical lighting with LED upgrades, which would help save some money on utilities.
Austin said the plans are to keep the 50/50 going for the foreseeable future.
"We have lots of projects still on the books, so it's going to continue on."
The September 50/50 runs to October 3, with the winning number drawn and announced via Facebook Live on October 4 at 10 a.m.
To purchase tickets, click here.
