The Shaw Festival says it may abandon the Royal George Theatre rebuild — or sell the Queen Street–Victoria Street property — if Niagara-on-the-Lake council does not approve the required planning amendments at Tuesday’s meeting.
The letter was submitted after council’s Nov. 11 decision to delay approval and have staff investigate concerns about the project’s size, height, parking and accessibility. Staff recommended full approval at that meeting.
In its Nov. 17 submission to the town ahead of its Nov. 18 council meeting, the Shaw says that further delays would add more than $200,000 per month in escalation, contract and financing costs and could prevent the new theatre from opening in fall 2028, “costing main street merchants and hoteliers millions in lost revenues.”
The letter says the theatre cannot be reduced below its current 38,000-square-foot design without triggering a full redesign the charity cannot afford after spending more than $4 million on engineering and earlier revisions.
The festival says it is prepared to offer public access to 13 washrooms, pay cash-in-lieu for one required parking space and add five accessible parking spaces — steps it says address concerns raised at the Nov. 11 meeting.
The letter says the amendments — the official plan and zoning changes required to build the new theatre — must be approved for the project to proceed.
If they are not, the Shaw says the rebuild will likely be abandoned and the property may be sold.
“We are a charity. We do not have the capacity to fund a redesign of this project,” the letter said.
