yorkregion.com
September 11, 2008, David Fleischer, Staff Writer

Richmond Hill Theatre opening delayed

The countdown to “curtain up” is on hold.

Only six weeks before the scheduled opening of the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, council decided to postpone the opening until Feburary after finding out the facility would not be ready as promised.

“There’s been so much excitement about the project and we’ve been building and building,” Mayor Dave Barrow said.

“There was really no decision to be made.”

Over and over the town has hammered home the opening date, using launch events counting down the number of minutes.

Councillors led a tour of the facility in June, still thinking it would be ready, even if the schedule was getting more compressed than they liked.

A soft opening was scheduled for mid-October with the opening gala set for Nov. 1.

“This is not something we can do anything about . . . it’s really awkward to be in this position,” Mr. Barrow said.

Construction is about 85 per cent complete, but the main hang-up was getting the doors and the curved front window wall installed. Without the exterior sealed off, work could not proceed on hanging acoustic panels and other interior features.

By the scheduled opening date, much of the exterior will be done, including the parking and the Yonge Street plaza.

The news was not a complete surprise, said Mr. Barrow, noting anyone driving by might ponder if the windowless building could be ready in a month.

Ironically, some of the outstanding hardware arrived this week, but it was too little, too late.

The $30 million centre is the biggest project in town history and not avoided any delays during its two years of construction.

Having an unusually snowy winter and just as rainy a summer did not help, but contingencies built into the schedule meant weather was not really the problem, Mr. Barrow said.

“You can’t blame anybody or any one thing. It’s just a huge project and it is taking longer than we hoped it would,” he said.

Council was advised of the situation last Thursday and considered all options before seeing there was no choice but to postpone.

The building could be done before the end this year, but there was little point rushing to make an already-busy Christmas season, Mr. Barrow said.

Instead, council decided to aim for mid-February, by which time it is certain everything will be 100 per cent ready to go.

“We’ve still got half a season left so it’s not a total wipe-out,” Mr. Barrow said.

“It’s a big disappointment but ... it will be delivered and it will the first class facility we all hoped it would be and it will be ready. Guaranteed, ready.”

In limbo are shows ranging from rocker Jim Cuddy to a new year’s eve gala, both touring and community performances.

Theatre manager Michael Grit is looking at the 91 affected dates, seeing what can be moved, what can be rescheduled and what faces cancellation.

Ticketholders will be advised of their options as soon as that process is complete. The situation is most difficult for the community groups depending on the theatre, Mr. Barrow said.

“That’s our biggest concern. The hardship we may cause them, let alone the disappointment,” he said.

Mr. Grit began calling each of the groups Wednesday and Mr. Barrow said council is looking at every option to minimize adverse affects.

“I look it as a snag, a very large snag,” said director of Steppin’ Out, Brian Lee.

The 16-year-old’s nascent company was to stage Little Women in December. They are looking at other venues for the show but still looking forward to working with the theatre when it does open.

“For me it’s hard to hear, but Michael (Grit) was really fantastic about it,” Mr. Lee said.

Opera York already splits dates with the Markham Theatre and will now take an extra date there for their production of Bizet’s Carmen. They continue to perform concerts at Thornhill’s St. Elizabeth Centre for the Performing Arts.

“All the theatres in York Region are working together to get by this challenge. The cultural community is working together,” said the company’s co-founder and administrative director, Joan Sax.

“We are losing one performance and that will affect our finances but believe that our Richmond
Hill theatregoers, sponsors and funders will understand that as soon as the theatre is ready we will performing there.”

It remains to be seen whether the town will incur any penalties from cancelling contracts.

The town’s budget will not take a significant hit since the initial revenue losses will be offset by not having to pay operating costs, Mr. Barrow said.

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