The Royal George Theatre’s 111-year-old history is coming to an end: teardown of the building on Queen Street in Niagara-on-the-Lake is underway following the dismissal of a legal challenge that put its demolition on hold for two months.
Crews started tearing down the theatre Thursday afternoon last week, beginning with the back of the building. The Shaw Festival’s executive director, Tim Jennings, said in a written statement that day that all demolition activity should be done by the end of June, making way for the construction of a new and larger Royal George Theatre.
It will save the demolition of its historic facade for last, to “minimize impact on Queen Street,” Jennings said.
This comes after the Shaw Festival said on Thursday that the legal dispute between it, the Town of NOTL and Centurion Building Corporation, the company that launched a judicial review in February to investigate the town’s green-lighting of the demolition, is now over.
On May 20, the Court of Appeal dismissed Centurion’s request to appeal the Divisional Court’s March ruling following a judicial review of the demolition approval. The courts ordered Centurion to pay $60,000 in total to the Shaw and the Town of NOTL, both respondents in this case, to cover their legal fees.
However, from where Centurion stands, the battle over the new Royal George may not be over yet: attorney Eric Gillespie, representing the company on this case, told The Lake Report its leaders are “considering their options” as far as future legal challenges they may put forward as construction of the new theatre gets underway.
“This is a very lengthy process,” he said. “There will be further permitting required: for example, building permits. As a result, there will be other opportunities in the future to challenge the project.”
Centurion’s filing of the judicial review in February — in which the company, led by president Nicholas Colaneri, alleged the town did not follow proper planning and heritage rules before signing off on the teardown of the old theatre — triggered a court-ordered pause on the theatre’s demolition, which was scheduled to begin at the end of March this year.
In late March, Ontario’s Divisional Court ruled that the Town of NOTL’s process to determine whether or not to approve the teardown of the old theatre was thorough and justified, dismissing the legal challenge.
Centurion immediately filed a motion asking the Court of Appeal to determine whether an appeal can proceed to reconsider the ruling the Divisional Court made, which the Court of Appeal dismissed, marking the end of this case.
“While these proceedings have required extensive time and attention, and certainly caused us some delays, our focus has remained resolute,” Jennings said on Thursday. “We now have clarity to move forward with renewed momentum.”
The court’s decision did not include reasons for dismissing the appeal request. Gillespie said when the court responds to a motion for leave to appeal, it does not provide an explanation for its decision.
In response to questions from The Lake Report, Jennings said Tuesday the courts will require Centurion to pay the Shaw $32,500 and the Town of NOTL $27,500. He noted this doesn’t cover all of the Shaw’s legal costs.
“As a charity, we rightly expect that to be paid in full,” he said via email. “From the Shaw’s perspective, any discussion around pursuing additional damages, beyond the awarded legal fees, is still under consideration.”
He confirmed that this legal challenge pushed the theatre’s demolition back by two months. Also adding to the delay on the project, he said, was an attempt by Centurion in late December and January to take the matter of the new Royal George’s approval to the Ontario Land Tribunal.
Despite these hurdles, Jennings said the Shaw is still planning to meet its goal of opening the new theatre, set to be 38,000 square feet above ground, in fall 2028.
The Royal George Theatre has stood at its spot on Queen Street in Old Town since 1915. The Shaw Festival bought the venue in 1980. The theatre hosted its last productions in December 2025, and an open house for the public to bid it farewell on Jan. 31, before closing its doors for good.
