While the tone of the open house meeting on the future of the Royal George remained calm, it doesn’t mean there weren’t questions and concerns from NOTLers about the Shaw Festival’s plans for the 110-year-old theatre.

Residents in attendance at the town’s virtual open house last Monday were given the opportunity to comment on the Shaw’s proposed plans for rebuilding the Royal George Theatre after it is closed at the end of this year. 

The new theatre being proposed would be noticeably larger and occupy more of downtown Old Town, moved slightly further north from its current location on Queen Street and seat around 360 people.

The building would be made out of stone and have three levels, plus a basement, and would be wheelchair accessible and have elevators installed.

“We want this building to last well into the 22nd century and beyond,” said Tim Jennings, the Shaw’s executive director.

One resident who shared her opinion during the open house was Caroline Polgrabia, who said she was surprised by how large the proposed building is.

“The lobby alone is bigger than the existing footprint of the current theatre,” she said. “This is a lot of space for 360 people … Why is this needed?”

Another, Maria Vaneva, said she questions whether the building fits into the heritage character of the neighbourhood she lives in, which is on Victoria Street.

“From the plans, this does not look really historic,” said Vaneva.

Meika McCunn is an architect at Unity Design Studio and the designer of the new theatre. She said the goal is for the new theatre to fit into the historical character of its surroundings — the proposal includes plans to build it with Edwardian-era tools and stone. 

The team also plans to do landscaping around the proposed theatre to protect the heritage character of the building.

“It may be considered an interpretation,” she said. “But it’s trying to be sensitive to the heritage district.”

As for its size, in response, McCunn said that given the multi-purpose nature of the theatre, as is common in modern theatres, including multi-purpose rooms, the amount of space allocated isn’t unusual.

Jennings said that modern code requirements, including installing elevators and conforming to fire codes, require more space.

The current theatre is 110 years old. Tim Jennings, executive director of the Shaw Festival organization, said it was “never supposed to last this long,” as it was originally meant as a temporary building built with a clay foundation and clay tiles.

The proposal, therefore, is to move the building slightly, to 178 and 188 Victoria St. and 79-83 Queen St., which is slightly further north than its current location.

NOTL town council would have to rezone this area from residential to commercial for the theatre to be built there.

A particular point was made of keeping the historical Queen Street façade of the building during the construction.

Stuart McCormack asked the town’s manager of development planning, Aimee Alderman, about whether the Royal George Theatre project is exempt from a current town freeze on new construction in a proposed heritage area.

The freeze was put in place by council because of a study currently being conducted about whether to make the protected Queen-Picton heritage area larger, which would include the site of the Royal George Theatre.

Alderman said the project was made exempt through Section 7 of the Old Town Community District bylaw and was established during a pre-consultation meeting about the project. Jennings said Shaw Festival representatives specifically applied for an exemption.

Vaneva also said that there’s no parking on the site in the plans, which McCunn confirmed. The only parking directly on the site will be bus parking in front of the building.

The Shaw Festival organization received $35 million from the provincial government in April to rebuild the Royal George Theatre, a little less than half of the $78 to $82-million project the Royal George Theatre rebuild would cost.

Jennings said the project is a public-private partnership, with financial support split in thirds between the federal government, provincial government and private donations.

The town also plans to have an in-person town hall on this topic on July 8 at 6 p.m. in council chambers.

daniel@niagaranow.com