Fredericton Council Selects Designer For New Performing Arts Centre
FREDERICTON – The replacement for the Fredericton Playhouse will move forward with a $1.1-million contribution from the City of Fredericton for Diamond Schmitt Architects to design the new Performing Arts Centre.
The decision was made by a committee consisting of members appointed by both the city of Fredericton and the board of the Fredericton Playhouse. After evaluating 20 interested firms, the committee selected a top three and made their ultimate decision based on cost-effectiveness and quality.
The council voted 12-1 to approve the contribution, with Deputy Mayor Steven Hicks opposing.
“We wanted someone who understood performing arts centres and best practice in arts centres,” said Kenneth Forrest, Director of Growth and Community Services with the City of Fredericton. “Diamond Schmitt has a lot of expertise building performing arts centres across the country and around the world, but also familiarity with the downtown context.”
Previously, the city of Fredericton had committed $14-million to the project that began after initial assessments in 2006 and another survey in 2012 determined the current Fredericton Playhouse has design issues that cannot be easily addressed.
“A lot of time and effort went into this, a lot of good people working on it, extreme diligence, and it’s time to move forward,” said Mayor Mike O’Brien.
The total cost of the project is expected to cost approximately $45-million. According to Councillor Bruce Grandy, Chair of Fredericton’s Development Committee, the detailed design from Diamond Schmitt will be helpful in obtaining funding from other levels of government for the project.
“This takes us one step closer to shovels in the ground,” Grandy said.
Following the council’s approval, Diamond Schmitt will work on the design within a year which will involve public engagement. Then, the council will move onto securing additional funding and putting together a construction plan.
In 2015, the project was named a regional priority by the Regional Service Commission following an economic impact analysis. In 2018, it was announced the new performing arts centre will be constructed on the current site of the Fredericton Playhouse. It will include several performance spaces including the main 800-seat theatre as well as a 300-seat black box theatre.
In June 2019, Fredericton’s council decided to proceed with selecting designers for the performing arts centre.
Part of the resolution passed by the council includes the hiring of an experienced professional to represent the city of Fredericton’s interests throughout the design’s development.
“We’re looking for someone who has major experience,” said Forrest, saying the individual may be an engineer or an architect from Fredericton or elsewhere in Canada depending on availability and skill set.
Diamond Schmitt, established in 1975, has designed 60 performance spaces and halls within 39 performance facilities. They are recognized internationally for their architecture. They are ranked among the top 100 architecture practices in the world and ranked 10th in the cultural sector by the UK publication Building Design.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has made clear that the Playhouse has a huge economic impact on Fredericton: Restaurants, hotels and other businesses benefit greatly from having an exciting live performance venue in our downtown,” said Grandy. “That’s why it’s vital to continue moving forward with the PAC project so that we can ensure the future of this economic anchor in our city.”