Dear editor:

There can be no doubt that the venerable and much-loved Royal George theatre is in urgent need of replacement.

Unfortunately, the plans recently unveiled by the Shaw Festival do not suggest that this will be done in a way that preserves the character of Queen Street and the heritage district as a whole.

Several heritage buildings have been acquired by the Shaw in order to increase the footprint of the theatre: These will be lost.

The proposed new building looks very much like a warehouse, despite the promised facade on Queen Street. The “flies” will tower over the surrounding neighbourhood. And the lengthy construction phase will turn a key part of the town’s main street into a no-go zone, with prolonged and serious effects on other businesses in the vicinity.

There has to be a better way and it involves moving on from the idea of rebuilding around the current location.

The long-abandoned hospital site seems like an obvious choice. The town has never figured out what to do with it, and many of the ideas that have been put forward have been conspicuously lacking in financial details.

Rebuilding the Royal George close to the Festival Theatre would create a genuine “cultural district” in the town. Construction might well be cheaper and easier on a less confined site than it is likely to be the case at the present location.

In addition, the hospital site is large enough to allow the provision of extra parking, which is always at a premium in Old Town.

No doubt a great deal of negotiation would be necessary to make this happen, including a property swap between the town and the Shaw, and seeking approval from the province for its promised funding to be redirected.

At the very least, this alternative is worth looking into.

James Webber
Virgil