A planned performing arts facility in uptown Saint John has received funding from the federal government.
The Saint John Theatre Company is getting $12 million to transform the former Sydney Street courthouse.
Stephen Tobias, executive director of the theatre funding, said this funding is crucial for the project.
“There has been a huge increase due to the cost of steel, the cost of labour, and a range of general inflationary pressures on the construction industry,” Tobias told our newsroom.
“We’re facing what literally every other major construction project in the world is facing right now in terms of those pressures that developed since the end of COVID.”
Tobias said they took ownership of the historic building with a project that was fully conceived in the first week of March 2020 — just before the world shut down for the pandemic.
The project is now estimated to cost around $30 million, up from just under $18 million with the same designs in 2021.
Tobias said with the latest federal contribution, they have secured just under $20 million. That includes a previous $2.5-million contribution from the federal government and $818,000 from the City of Saint John.
“We have a range of other donors and funders who have supported this. I think at some point in the near future, we will have announcements related to the launch of a capital campaign, and we’ll talk more about those donors at that time,” he said.
The site will be a home theatre for the Atlantic Repertory Company, which offers a variety of professional work opportunities in acting, stage management and design, alongside top-notch professional development initiatives.
The state-of-the-art facility will be designed to foster artistic growth and collaboration. It will feature office space for resident artists and expanded rehearsal and production areas.
“The Atlantic Repertory Company, or ARC, is rapidly becoming the largest professional provider of theatre in the province, and it really needs a home theatre,” said Tobias.
“That’s what separates this project away from a lot of other cultural projects, is the idea that we’re creating a creation space, a creative home for the Atlantic Repertory Company.”
It will also feature a mid-range 250-seat performance venue, which Tobias said is the ideal range for professional theatre production in the region.
The Saint John Theatre Company currently owns the 100-seat BMO Studio Theatre and also uses the 900-seat Imperial Theatre for performances.
Construction is expected to start in 2025 with the building ready to open to the public in early 2028.
