Latest news with #ArtsCommonsTransformation
CTV News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Calgary's newest performance space gets a name
Calgary's newest performing arts space will be the Osten-Victor Playhouse. It's part of the Arts Commons Transformation Project, and expected to open in late 2028. The name of Calgary's new 1,000-seat performance space was revealed Friday. President and CEO Alex Sarnian announced that it will be known as the Osten-Victor Playhouse. The venue is being built across the street from the current Arts Commons location, on Olympic Plaza. It's part of the Arts Commons Transformation Project, which includes developing a three-level, 170,000 square foot building to house the 1,000 seat theatre as well as a 200-seat studio theatre. Sarnian said the new venue will fill a gap in Calgary's current theatre market. 'What we are missing, even from within our own ecosystem, is that 1,000 to 1,200 seat theatre,' he said. 'And when we zoom out and we look at Calgary, we realize that's also missing within the city. 'And so as Calgary continues to grow, so too will our cultural aspirations,' he added, 'and having a space that can accommodate that sort of gap right now, I think is pivotal for any creative artist wanting to develop new work.' He said the venue will be for shows too big for the Max Bell Theatre but too small for the Jubilee. The Osten-Victor Playhouse is expected to open by late 2028. Arts Commons has a new name too -- the Werklund Centre.
Calgary Herald
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
State-of-the-art, 1,000-seat theatre at Arts Commons to be named after philanthropists Al Osten and Buddy Victor
Arts Commons revealed plans and the name for a new state-of-the-art theatre at the heart of its $660-million transformation on Friday. Article content Set to open in 2028, the Osten-Victor Playhouse will be a 1,000-seat theatre and a central part of The Arts Commons Transformation and Olympic Plaza Transformation projects. It is named after Calgary philanthropists Al Osten and the late Buddy Victor, who donated $12 million to the expansion. Article content Article content Article content 'They feel limited,' said Sarian. 'You can only build shows for venues that currently exist. If you are a theatre company, a dance company or a performing arts organization and the only thing you can prepare a show for is 750 seats or 2,000-plus, that's a big swing. So, being able to provide a community with a 1,000-seat theatre doesn't feel like rocket science, but it's a huge contribution to the diversity of venue size within our city. That is going to make a lot of local arts organizations very excited.' Article content Article content State-of-the-art technology will allow the new venue to transform into various configurations, from a traditional proscenium setup to a flat-floor dynamic space with no seats. Article content Article content 'While you can arguably do that with a venue like the Martha Cohen Theatre, we will have the technology at the Osten-Victor Playhouse to do that with a push of a button because of the technology, as opposed to having to shut down the venue for a multi-day turnover. So not only will the arts community in Calgary have a new venue size, they will have a more flexible venue.' Article content The theatre will be 'the centrepiece' of the Arts Commons expansion, which will be officially renamed The Werklund Centre in September to honour the $75 million donated to the project by philanthropist Dave Werklund and his family. Article content Al Osten and Buddy Victor were together for 67 years after both became members of the New York-based doo-wop group The Rover Boys in the 1950s. In 1967, the couple invested in Weight Watchers and brought the program to Alberta and Saskatchewan. They sold the business in 2013 and became known for their philanthropy, making sizable donations to hospices in Calgary and Edmonton, the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton, the Osten-Victor Alberta Tennis Centre in Calgary and the Glenbow Museum. Osten was born in Saskatoon and raised in Edmonton. He now lives in Calgary.
CBC
07-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
Olympic Plaza redesign includes skating rink and 12-metre-tall gold fountain
The Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) has released long-awaited design plans for the Olympic Plaza Transformation project. Among the features included in the plans are a winter skating rink, a 12-metre-tall fountain the colour of an Olympic gold medal and an indoor pavilion with food and drink service. The design, inspired by the "sunflake" iconography of the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics, also includes a flexible outdoor gathering space that can accommodate up to 5,000 people. "You want to take something that works and build on it. And I think that's what the team's done here," said CMLC president and CEO Kate Thompson. "It was important to integrate the pieces of the [last] plaza that worked and also build off making it more flexible, more adaptable for pieces in the future, for different uses that maybe we don't even know about yet." Revamping the downtown plaza is expected to cost $70 million, with funding coming from the province, the City of Calgary and philanthropist Dave Werklund and family. Public engagement helped shape the design, according to the CMLC, with a skating rink and green space being two of the most requested features. The reimagined plaza will "seamlessly" connect with a brand new performing arts building that will go up as part the $660 million Arts Commons Transformation project. Alex Sarian, president and CEO of Arts Commons, said the new Olympic Plaza will provide better opportunities for event organizers, who made use of the old plaza space in spite of its design, not because of it. "We'll be able to have giant events without having to shut down, you know, lanes and lanes to bring in additional resources," said Sarian. "It's exciting because of the flexibility it will allow the community for decades to come." Ground broke in December on the $270-million first phase of the Arts Commons Transformation. Once complete, a new building, adjacent to Olympic Plaza and across Eighth Avenue S.E. from the current Arts Commons building, will house a new 1,000-seat theatre as well as a 200-seat theatre. It will be a three-level, 162,000-square-foot structure that features a curved exterior, inspired by Alberta's landscapes, according to the CMLC. Demolition of Olympic Plaza began in January as part of Phase 1 of the project. The current Arts Commons building, built in 1985, will be modernized in Phase 2. Both the Olympic Plaza and Arts Commons transformations are key to revitalizing downtown Calgary, according to Coun. Terry Wong, representative for Ward 7. "When you take a look at the centrepiece of what the Olympic Plaza Transformation is all about, it is a place where people can flourish," he said. "People can see the vibrancy, the viability of being able to raise a family as well as run a multi-national corporation here." In a nod to the space's Olympic roots, the design team has included one of Calgary's '88 Olympic cauldrons in the plans. As well, part of the arch that bears the Latin motto of the Olympics — "Citius, Altius, Fortius" (Faster, Higher, Stronger) — will be reincorporated in the new plaza. The International Olympic Committee was consulted during the design process, according to the CMLC, and has endorsed the new plans as aligned with its expectations for the celebration of Olympic legacy. Construction work on the new Olympic Plaza is set to start in 2027 and wrap up the following year.
