Downtown Consortium Releases Design Plans for Pantages Revitalization

The Performing Arts Consortium of Winnipeg Inc. (PAC) and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO) have jointly released design plans for the renovation of the Pantages Theatre into a modernized performing venue for the orchestra and widespread community use. In a long-term agreement as managing tenant, the WSO plans to rehearse and perform many of its programs in the new 1,100-seat venue and make it available to other groups and organizations.

Built in 1914, the vaudeville-era hall has been closed since 2018, following a period during which it was managed by the WSO for community usage since 2011. Said WSO Executive Director Angela Birdsell, “In the last year that Pantages was operating, over 75 community and professional groups used the venue 150 days or nights of the year. These were everything from dance school recitals and choral concerts, theatre and comedy, to soft-seat performances of folk, blues or jazz, and everything in between. It seems that almost everyone has a story about Pantages. We would love to see this beloved venue – designated historic by three levels of government and which has sat vacant for seven years now – revitalized for the people of Winnipeg and Manitoba and our many visitors.”

The PAC acquired the building in August of 2022 and began to pull together a group of foundations and community-minded benefactors who agreed to generously support a “proof of concept.” Curt Vossen is a Director of PAC and the Chair of the WSO. “Once refurbished, the Pantages is a venue that needs a managing tenant, and the WSO is a high-producing organization that needs a home, so this ongoing collaboration makes perfect sense,” said Vossen. “But first, we needed to understand whether the venue has the potential to be adapted for high acoustic values, specifically for orchestral music, and if so, how much would that cost. We then needed to ensure that the venue has the services orchestra musicians and presenting groups need – both backstage and on stage – as well as the potential to welcome the public and provide a comfortable experience. The team looked at everything from public amenities – crush space, hospitality, washrooms, accessibility – to digital performance enhancements and modern-sized seating and row spacing for today’s patrons.”

In 2023, the two groups brought together a design team led by Number TEN Architect Group (NTAG), working in close collaboration with a team of theatre design and acoustic experts, as well as digital and AV consultants with experience transforming vaudeville-era theatres into modernized venues. The team also included structural, electrical, and mechanical engineers and construction management expertise. Over a period of six months, the team met regularly with WSO and PAC to map out a design that would meet both the needs of a modern-day symphony orchestra as well as those of professional and community performing arts groups.

“We were absolutely amazed at the level of detail and thoughtful design the team applied to this project,” said Vossen. “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. All while ensuring the important and beloved historical elements of this beautiful theatre are preserved and enhanced.”

A detailed costing exercise was undertaken by Bockstael Construction in January 2024, arriving at an estimated cost of $55 to $60 million for the project. The PAC and WSO have been working closely with all three levels of government with the goal of raising roughly 50% of those costs, with the balance to be raised from the private sector. “To date, we have raised close to $15 million in pledges of support, just scratching the surface with a small number of foundations and individuals,” said Vossen. “Once we secure $25 – $30 million in overall pledged support, including from government, we will green-light the project and launch our major capital campaign. The Pantages is a storied and much-loved community asset and can become a catalyst for further investment in the Exchange district. We have no doubt the public will step up and support this project with enthusiasm. But this project will not be possible without the support of all three levels of government.”

The PAC is a non-profit charitable organization governed by community leaders. It was formed in 1996 with the sole purpose of stewarding the Pantages Theatre for community use on behalf of the City of Winnipeg, which owned the building. Over more than 76 years, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra has been a Canadian cultural icon, producing close to 70 events a year, including classics, kids concerts, school concerts for every age group, movies with orchestra, popular performers and its world-renowned Winnipeg New Music Festival. The WSO has performed twice at Carnegie Hall and regularly tours communities in southern Manitoba as far as Wasagaming and Kenora.

The WSO currently rents rehearsal, box office, and performance space at the 2,300-seat Centennial Concert Hall (CCH) at a daily rate for 150 to 180 days a year. “We fully expect to continue to host some of our larger events, such as our sold-out movie concerts, at the CCH,” said Birdsell. “Like our five major cultural institutional partners, the time has come for the WSO to have its own home – a right-sized hall and acoustics for our traditional offerings and the many other creative projects we present. Pantages will give the WSO street visibility to serve the community any time of the day or evening and the flexibility to adjust and increase programming as necessary. We will have space for ongoing education and training and summer programming, and we can contribute to downtown initiatives such as Culture Days and First Fridays. Not only will we be more flexible and responsive to the community, we can also finally realize ancillary revenue, such as rentals, food and beverage, training and summer camps; the kinds of activities that help keep other arts organizations sustainable and help build the audiences of the future.”

“The WSO would be the last major orchestra in Canada to move out of its Centennial-era hall,” she added. “Having more evenings freed up will also enable the CCH to bring in a more diverse array of commercial shows – an objective that meets its aspirations. We view Pantages as complementary to CCH – the added foot traffic downtown will only be a catalyst for revitalization in the Exchange District. Everyone stands to win with this project.”