By Diana Ginsberg
Ottawa theatregoers can now expect an even “greater” experience as the Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC) gears up for relocation from its current home at 910 Gladstone Ave. to Westboro in January 2007.
“The theatre has simply outgrown itself,” says Julie Breuer, the theatre’s development manager.
“There’s a strong need to increase performance arts space, which is also part of Ottawa’s 20/20 plan. So we’re fulfilling that need.”
The 20/20 plan is a blueprint for where Ottawa wants to be in 20 years and how the city is going to get there in a way that supports the values of its citizens.
According to Breuer, the city has committed $1.3 million towards the construction of the new building.
The Gladstone location was originally a truck garage that the theatre group converted into the GCTC when they moved in, says Breuer.
The new building will be a new state-of-the-art 1,815-sq. m. theatre at 1233 Wellington St. West, and will use “smart” technologies in water, air, energy and waste management.
The city says the smart technologies in the new building are the first of its kind in Canada. They will use 50 per cent less of the usual infrastructure requirements for a building of its size.
Adam Stephens, communications manager for the theatre company, says the new theatre will include a bigger lobby and café that will be open throughout the day. The building will also include better dressing rooms, more backstage and workshop space, an environmentally friendly atmosphere and better accessibility for people with disabilities.
“Right now, there is no green room for the actors,” says Breuer.
“There are unisex dressing rooms and a very small bathroom with one shower that they share. The office is small for eight of us to work in because we can all reach out and touch each other. There is no storage space and the shop, which is behind the theatre, is built of wood and does not have heat in the winter. So building sets is a nightmare.”
The new building will be built on the first three floors of a condominium called The Currents.
Stephens says the GCTC will add 40 seats to its main stage theatre space, and will have a 95-seat studio theatre with rehearsal and production space.
The move is sure to make the theatre a landmark on both sides of the Westboro and Hintonburg communities.
In a recent survey, conducted for the GCTC using focus groups of ticket buyers, subscribers and donors of various ages and socio-economic backgrounds, 74 per cent of participants were in favour of building a new theatre.
Dorothy Gamouras, a Centretown resident who has a disability, used to attend the GCTC about five years ago.
Although Gamouras says she liked the intimate atmosphere, getting last-minute seats and accommodating her disability was a problem.
Gamouras says she thinks the move will benefit a lot of theatregoers, but comments:
“The one suggestion I would make to the GCTC … if they would talk to a handicap group and gather input from those who have disabilities and advertise the theatre’s accessibility.
“Maybe more people in Centretown like me who are handicapped and are not aware of the move will take notice.”
The GCTC was started by four professors at Carleton University and was officially incorporated in 1975.
The theatre did not have a permanent location until 1982, when it moved to the Gladstone location.