By Connie Smart
When Don Laflamme was looking for a space to hold Algonquin College’s new repertory theatre program, he found the answer in a little-known Centretown facility.
Hidden within the historic gray stone walls of the former Immaculata High School, the Bronson Centre’s 900-seat theatre underwent $100,000 worth of renovations last summer. Classes and performances for Laflamme’s program have been held in the theatre since August.
“Everyone’s always complaining about the lack of theatre space in Ottawa, and here you have this facility that’s got the potential to be something great,” says Laflamme, professor and co-ordinator of the one-year program that offers students real stage experience.
Building on that potential is exactly what the centre hopes to do in the years to come, says Corey Mayville, executive director of Bronson Centre, Inc.
Mayville says the centre wants to develop the theatre into a prominent rental facility that might help ease the lack of theatre space in Centretown.
The majority of the centre’s extra costs are currently covered by the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, who founded the centre in 1996 to improve public access to community social agencies.
However, Mayville says the sisters will continue to gradually withdraw funding this year, in keeping with the original mandate that they would cover extra costs until the centre reached a level of self-sustainability.
“We’re now at a point where we (the centre) are able to stabilize and go for the long haul, so we’re looking at ways to sustain ourselves,” says Mayville, who adds that one of the centre’s options is to focus on the theatre as an important source of revenue.
Incorporated in 2001 and set to reach 100 per cent occupancy by the end of this month, the centre is home to 30 non-profit agencies that offer educational, emotional, spiritual and physical support. Revenue is generated by leasing to these agencies, as well as renting out classrooms, a cafeteria and the theatre.
With the theatre, Mayville says he hopes to tap into the need for rental space in Ottawa, especially in the Centretown area.
City arts development manager Nicole Zuger says there is a definite lack of theatre space in and around the downtown core.
“We’re encouraging all organizations to open up whatever space they have and to make it accessible,” Zuger says, adding that local artist groups have told her even alternative spaces like school auditoriums are becoming too expensive to rent.
Don Fex began operating out of the Bronson theatre in November following a long search for space for his group. Fex, artistic director of the New World Theatre Project, says it’s not unusual to find groups rehearsing in living rooms and basements.
“It’s almost impossible for a new group like mine to find rental space in Ottawa, especially this area,” Fex says, who notes that facilities like the National Arts Centre, Arts Court and Great Canadian Theatre Company are generally booked solid a year in advance.
While both Fex and Laflamme say they see great potential for the theatre, they agree with Mayville that there is still a long way to go before it will be ready to make a significant impact on the Ottawa arts scene.
They cite poor lighting and sound, as well as the large size of the theatre, as reasons why groups are currently turning away.
Mayville acknowledges that while he is looking for outside funding to improve lighting and sound, there are also problems with the centre’s infrastructure. He says it is not yet equipped to support a bustling theatre and, as a result, he intends to take things slow.
“I don’t want to say that we’re not arts-minded, but our thing is to assist non-profit organizations,” says Mayville. “So when it comes to managing a 900-seat theatre, right now we don’t have the budget or the manpower.”
He says an ideal situation would be to have either a group or the city lease the space and take management off the centre’s hands. He also adds that he and Laflamme have discussed the possibility of having Algonquin students manage it as part of the repertory theatre program.
“Like anything, the theatre will take time to catch on,” he says. “But while everyone is saying we need more space, why wait for new theatres to be built when, in the meantime, this one’s already here?”