It’s a good day for arts, culture and real estate in Saint John.
$3 million dollars from the Federal government to refurbish the old provincial courthouse on Sydney Street and complete upgrades on the interior of the Imperial Theatre.
Multi-million dollar investments from the Federal government to transform the old Sydney street courthouse into a theatre venue where the Saint John Theatre Company can host festivals and more. pic.twitter.com/r2CaKVHWWW
— Tamara Steele (she/her) 🇨🇦 (@tamarasteele1) April 16, 2019
The funding is coming from the the Federal Departments of Canadian Heritage and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
The announcement made on Tuesday morning at the BMO Studio Theatre on Princess Street.
Stephen Tobias speaks about why they want to repurpose this building. pic.twitter.com/SkqkODBGsV
— Tamara Steele (she/her) 🇨🇦 (@tamarasteele1) April 16, 2019
The Saint John Theatre Company are buying the old courthouse and converting into space for their own productions, a 200-seat mid-range theatre, offices and administration.
He says they will to secure significantly more funding.
“$2.5 million is an amazing headstart but, we expect this will be a much bigger project. I am hoping that in about three months time we will be in a position to say ‘here is the real budget, here are the pretty pictures. This is what it will really look like’. This is where we are at now, we are at the very beginning.” Tobias told reporters on Tuesday.
Tobias says it will need work but, it’s been mothballed well.
“It’s well below code, it needs a huge amount of infrastructure upgrades to make it useful but, we are not actually saving the building from decay”.
One of the courtrooms will be converted into a 200-seat mid-range theatre space which Tobias says is badly needed in this community.
The Imperial Theatre received $500,000 for work on the interior including changes to the box office area.
Angela Campbell of the Imperial Theatre speaks about what they will be using their $500k in funding for. pic.twitter.com/n6AoYnpIaE
— Tamara Steele (she/her) 🇨🇦 (@tamarasteele1) April 16, 2019
