By Kendal Egli
[The curtain will not rise at the Great Canadian Theatre Company’s (GCTC) new, state-of-the-art Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre until September 2007, a year later than originally planned.
The facility was supposed to make its debut for this year’s new theatre season, but construction delays caused by a lack of funding resulted in the postponement.
“We wanted to be ready for the (2006/2007) season … but that was quite early in the stages of planning and development,” says Adam Stephens, communications manager for the GCTC.
The GCTC still needs $1.5 million to complete the new facility, but the company is very confident that the new theatre will be open in time to kick off the 2007/2008 season, says Leslie Turcotte, GCTC development director.
“We’re still going to open, we’re still going forward … it’s not a train that will stop,” says Sarah Feldberg, GCTC development officer.
The GCTC hopes to garner the remaining money from public donations to its fundraising effort, known as the Making it Greater Capital Campaign, and by adding a $2 surcharge to theatre tickets for the 2006/2007 season.
Despite the extra charges, public support for the campaign is strong.
Bruce Thomson, a retired Ottawa theatregoer, says he supports the GCTC’s increased ticket prices because the theatre company has outgrown its current location on Gladstone Avenue, which was formerly a car garage.
“It’s obviously a hardship for the actors and actresses to work out of a cramped facility,” he says.
Brad Campeau, organizer of the fundraising initiative World Beats and Eats, plans to help raise money for the project. His organization hosts monthly events to fundraise for different non-profit arts groups, and he says he plans to arrange an event with proceeds going towards the GCTC.
“They’re definitely on my list of things to do,” he says.
The GCTC’s Making it Greater Capital Campaign projects the total cost of completing the new theatre centre at roughly $12.4 million.
So far, the campaign has managed to raise $10.9 million toward construction, including donations from the federal, provincial, and municipal government.
A donation of $2.5 million came from the family of late GCTC benefactor Irving Greenberg, and the facility was named the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre in honour of the substantial gift.
“We’ve seen extremely generous community and government support,” says Stephens.
The Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre, located at 1233 Wellington St. beneath The Currents condominium, is Canada’s first mixed-use residential and performance arts venue to feature green building technologies for better water, air, energy, and waste management as determined by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Moreover, the facility will offer 270 Mainstage Theatre seats, providing 40 more seats than the Gladstone Avenue location. It will also feature a 90-seat studio theatre, a two-floor lobby with a winding staircase, and a café.
Last week, GCTC development officer Sarah Feldberg gave members of the public a tour through a scale-model of the new theatre during ArtsFair 2006 at the National Arts Centre.
The public’s reception to the new theatre plans is very good, says Feldberg.
“People told us … they wanted more legroom, they wanted washrooms, they wanted coat-check, so we’re giving it to them,” she says.
With the public’s recommendations in mind, the building was designed to be “not too large” to preserve the GCTC’s cozy atmosphere, says Stephens.
“It’s our aim to keep the experience intimate,” he says.