To put it simply, the Playhouse was not designed or built to last. It was built in the era of the 1960s when longevity and renewability of public buildings was not given the kind of consideration it was 50 years earlier or even today. The Board finally came to the conclusion, along with the City, that it was more prudent and responsible to replace the Playhouse with a facility that will adequately serve the community now and well into the future. The performing arts centre, which will be called the Ron & Erma Hawkes Centre for the Arts in recognition of their transformative gift to the project, will be a special place for future generations, just as the spaces we enjoy now were gifts from our forebearers to us. It will strengthen the social fabric of our city. It will set us – and those who come after us – up for success.

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The 850-seat ‘main hall’ theatre replaces the current 709-seat Playhouse. A great deal of study went into determining the best seat count for the main hall. Too few seats would prevent the new performing arts centre from attracting large-scale commercial shows like Broadway, popular music and stand-up comedy, while too many would place the venue in a category that is not aligned with similar venues in the Maritimes and therefore prevent Fredericton from participating in regional tours.

850 seats is the “sweet spot”, making it the largest of the three major venues in New Brunswick, but keeping it in the same “category” as the Capitol and the Imperial Theatres. This was critical to the decision on the seat count, and it allows the new venue to be a key piece of the collaborative ecosystem for performing arts in New Brunswick.

With a second more intimate theatre of 300 seats AND a main hall that can also be reconfigured to reduce the seat count to ~500 seats by closing the balcony, local and touring productions looking for an affordable and high-quality theatre venue will have it. This strategic configuration of theatres and seats will set us apart.

With designs now finalized, site preparation will begin in late 2023 and construction is anticipated to begin in 2024, with the new facility expected to open in 2027. The new performing arts centre is being designed by a top-notch multi-disciplinary team led by Toronto-based Diamond Schmitt Architects who specialize in the complexities and intricacies of modern performing arts space design. Selected from a field of 20 proponents, Diamond Schmitt teamed up with Fredericton-based EXP Engineering and five other specialized consultants selected by the City of Fredericton in a competitive selection process. Three of the seven consultants on the team are based in Fredericton. Threshold Acoustics of Chicago and Fischer Dachs of New York bring a depth of experience and expertise in acoustics and theatre technology to the work of designing a high-functioning regional facility.

The Playhouse building will revert to the City of Fredericton, who will divest of the property and proceeds will be put toward the new performing arts centre. The City is very aware of the prominence of the address and will ensure that whatever development takes place on this site is appropriate for its significant institutional civic address.

No, the project is using the same approach as the Avenir Centre in Moncton in that it will using the existing available parking supply in the downtown. This approach is better for downtown retail and hospitality businesses who will benefit from more pedestrian street life brought on by hundreds of people attending on any given night. Given that that parking supply in downtown Fredericton is driven by daytime office workers, there is plenty of available parking in nearby lots and parkades including the Brunswick Street Parking Garage, East End Parking Garage, Boyce Farmers’ Market Lot as well as other smaller lots and on-street parking. A “layby” will be shared with the new Justice Building next door to allow for patrons to be dropped off at the front door.

Fredericton Playhouse Inc. is determined to sustainably support capital renewal and will ensure the sustainability of the space over its full lifetime. We may allocate capital funds raised during the campaign to a building renewal fund to be invested and used exclusively for future capital renewal projects over the life of the building, as approved by the FPI Board. 

For the duration of the Encore! campaign, yes, but your gift will still go to the Friends of the Playhouse community programs you normally support. All gifts or pledges to the Encore! campaign will go toward BOTH capital for the new building AND program funding for community access programs including School Field Trips, Arts are for Everyone and InterMISSION artist residencies. With the Encore! campaign, we plan on raising funds to DOUBLE the amount of people served by our programs!