3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Plans for Pantages Theatre renovations unveiled
The Performing Arts Consortium of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra have released design plans for the renovation of the Pantages Theatre.
The WSO plans to rehearse in the new 1,100-seat venue and perform many of its concerts in a long-term agreement as managing tenant, while also making the building available to other groups and organizations.
The hall, built in 1914, has been closed since 2018, after a period in which it was managed by the WSO. The venue was purchased by the consortium, a non-profit charitable organization, in August 2022.
NUMBER TEN ARCHITECTURAL GROUP
A renderings shows what the lobby of the renovated Pantages Theatre would look like.
The PAC and WSO brought together a design team led by Number TEN Architectural Group in 2023, working in collaboration with a team with experience in transforming vaudeville-era theatres into modernized venues.
'To achieve the results we need, the hall will have major interventions — a deeper and wider stage, an orchestra pit, stage rigging, improved sightlines, and completely modernized and re-situated electrical, HVAC and mechanical systems,' WSO chairman Curt Vossen said in a news release. 'All while ensuring the important and beloved historical elements of this beautiful theatre are preserved and enhanced.'
The estimated cost of the project is $55 million to $60 million. The PAC and WSO have been working with all three levels of government to raise 50 per cent of the costs, with the balance to be raised by the private sector. The consortium plans to launch a capital campaign.
Conrad SweatmanReporter
Conrad Sweatman is an arts reporter and feature writer. Before joining the Free Press full-time in 2024, he worked in the U.K. and Canadian cultural sectors, freelanced for outlets including The Walrus, VICE and Prairie Fire. Read more about Conrad.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
