The Future of the Royal George - Shaw Festival Theatre

How long have plans for the new Royal George been underway?

We started the process of designing a new Royal George back in 2017, following concerns around its failing foundation and infrastructure, with the intent to try to rebuild in 2021. The pandemic really delayed that and exacerbated the infrastructure issues.

Now, after many years of planning with architects, consultants, and community members—including gathering the necessary studies and assessments—we are ready to move forward with a design that will support the transformative work at the Shaw and better serve the community of Niagara-on-the-Lake and our audiences more widely.

We have been in regular contact with town staff and council throughout the process, though final details have only recently come to ground. On April 1, the Provincial government announced their support of the project with $35M in funding and provided us with a three-year timeline to complete the project, which in turn allowed us to finalize plans with our donors and the Town.

Thanks to the acquisition of three adjacent properties in the late 1990s, 2017 and 2022, we now have the space to build a new Royal George that is fully accessible, code-compliant, and equipped for the future. While the theatre auditorium itself will retain its intimate, jewel-box charm and style, the expanded footprint allows for a proper lobby, integrated box office, accessible and increased washrooms, elevators, and safe and accessible circulation for wheelchairs, walkers and other mobility devices that are required of all modern buildings. But we want to do more than the minimum.

When will I get to see designs for the new Royal George Theatre?

We unveiled the first images of our new Royal George Theatre design on Saturday, May 24 at our opening weekend celebrations. We had finalized those images only days before and indeed really only knew what we could do once the province made their funding decision on April 1, 2025. Since then, we have refined the design based on community feedback and have submitted our heritage impact assessment report, re-zoning and site plan application. For more information – please visit shawfest.com/royalgeorge.

Why will the new Royal George Theatre be a larger building?

The new Royal George must be larger than the existing building by law, and by code. Accessibility needs of the current world would not allow the existing building to be built today. Because we only get to do this once, we want it to be the best building it can be, and we need to do it for the audiences and Queen Street of a hundred years from now.

1) Rebuilding the theatre requires a larger footprint to meet existing building and fire codes.

The current lobby is approximately 8 feet deep and has a fire code capacity of 13 people for a theatre designed to seat 335 patrons. Modern building and fire codes would not allow such a small lobby space today. A lobby needs to be able to marshal the whole group of attendees, and we are looking to increase from 335 to 350 seats. We are required to move the theatre further back to create a lobby that meets these building and evacuation codes. We are taking advantage of that larger main floor footprint to add more washrooms, better access to the theatre’s balcony level, and a multi-purpose community space.

2) The current theatre is deeply inaccessible to patrons and workers.

The only accessible washroom at the current theatre is in another building, down an alley. Wheelchairs have great difficulty entering the building, and mobility-challenged people have few seating options. In the winter, this is exacerbated. These are just a few of the many, many barriers we must resolve.

Currently, the stage and all backstage spaces are not accessible to people with reduced mobility. The new theatre will allow workers with mobility devices to access all areas of the building, including the gridiron of the fly tower (which allows us to take scenery completely out of view during a performance). This is why the fly tower height will need to be increased by approximately 5.5 feet from its current height. This additional 5.5 feet allows for a person to work standing rather than crouching and crawling around.

Given its increased distance from the street, the fly tower will not be visible to a passerby on Queen Street or from most of Victoria Street. We will be including a green wall and adding additional trees on the north side of the building and on Victoria Street that will also help obscure the tower.

A 3^rd floor for the technical working area is necessary for the theatre for working access of staff and as that also requires elevator access, we have allowed for some additional gathering space on the 3^rd floor so that we can use it for supporting our education, and performance activities. We have stepped this back from the street view so that it is hidden from the Queen Street view.

The other facades on both Victoria Street and Queen Street will be similar in height to the houses around the Victoria Street side. A 3^rd floor for the technical working area is necessary for the theatre for working access of staff and as that also requires elevator access, we have allowed for some additional gathering space on the 3^rd floor so that we can use it for supporting our education, and performance activities. We have stepped this back from the street view so that it is hidden from the Queen Street view.

3) The current theatre does not contain a box office or rehearsal hall.

The current Royal George theatre’s lobby is so small that it cannot contain a box office. The blue building beside the theatre houses both the box office and the only accessible washroom. It shares this space with one of our costume construction shops. These spaces will be incorporated into the new building.

We are also adding a rehearsal space on the Victoria St. side that will allow passersby to see us in rehearsals. This additional space will also support our youth programming and other educational events. When not in use, the rehearsal hall can be made available for community events. We will not be hosting commercial events like weddings at the theatre.

What is being done to ensure the new Royal George Theatre maintains its charm and enriches the Queen Street and Victoria streetscape?

At the suggestion of the Town’s heritage consultant, we have moved toward the concept of a ghost façade where the current theatre façade stands; the front of the new Royal George will be a true echo of how it looks today.

A ghost façade is an architectural term for a way of preserving the building’s historical frontage while the rest of the structure behind it is replaced. In the Royal George Theatre design update, the original theatre’s façade and illuminated entrance marquee will be reinterpreted, maintaining the scale, window openings, molding and column details. The ghost façade will be freestanding and connect to the new theatre entry through a small outdoor courtyard, covered by a continuing canopy illuminated with marquee lights.

Victoria Street will feature pitched or “gabled” roofs and the Rehearsal Hall windows have been lowered to residential height with a bay window treatment to be more harmonious with the look of the neighbourhood. The scenic delivery bay will be obscured by a decorative, residential style, wrought iron fence complemented by brick pillars, hedges and plantings. Extensive ornamental planting and landscaping will further enhance the residential streetscape.

We are exploring ways to conserve elements and include historic details of the properties from the current Royal George and Victoria Street buildings to integrate into the new interior designs, as art installations or commemorative installations.

Isn’t the Royal George Theatre (and the other properties) a historical site?

No, the Royal George and all the other buildings on the new site are not designated historical buildings (although they are located on Queen Street in the NOTL Queen/Picton Heritage District).

Our beloved Royal George Theatre was built during the First World War as a temporary building to house lectures and entertainment for officers training here in Niagara. For speed, and to save money, it was built out of clay “speed” tile, only designed to last for about 25 years. The Shaw bought the building in 1981 and hid the original Spanish stucco design completed the faux Georgian façade (designed by architect Peter John Stokes) started by the previous owners and installed the jewel box interiors of the lobby and auditorium as semi-permanent set pieces.

Who is the architect of the Shaw Artists’ Village and the Royal George Theatre?

Unity Design Studio (formerly Lett Architects) is the Shaw Festival architect of record having designed the original Festival Theatre, the Production Centre addition in 2005 and the ongoing stop-gap measures to shore up the Royal George Theatre. We are thrilled to have Unity Design Studio, led by Bill Lett Jr., design both the Shaw Artists’ Village and the new Royal George Theatre. We are also working with Theatre Consultants Collaborative (TCC), a group of theatre veterans who will help us create an inspiring performance space. Govan Brown will be supporting the project as the Construction Manager. Many of our senior staff have also been involved in or managed construction projects of this sort.

What is the construction timeline for the new Royal George Theatre?

After the final performance of A Christmas Carol on December 21, the theatre will be stripped of its seats and equipment, and we will move into demolition in early 2026.  From there, we anticipate a 30-month rebuild and look forward to welcoming our first guests back into the theatre in late 2028. Theatres are highly complex buildings – second only to hospitals – and require a lot of attention to acoustics, sightlines and technical elements.

What is the Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification?

The Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification (RHFAC) indicates a commitment to accessibility. Gold level accessibility recognizes buildings with a level of meaningful access beyond minimums required by building code and is based upon the holistic user experience of people with varying disabilities affecting their mobility, vision, and hearing.

A building that simply meets existing building code would only receive a rating of 43% on the RHFAC scale. These buildings are often mobility-centric and may fall short of the actual needs of people with various disabilities. To achieve gold level, a building must receive a rating of over 80% and is scored across 12 areas.

The new Royal George Theatre will ensure that every patron will be able to enjoy the theatre no matter their level of mobility. Typically, backstage areas are not accessible to wheelchair users or people with reduced mobility. The new Royal George will allow a worker who has mobility assistance requirements to access every part of our building, especially the ones that have historically not been available to them.

What will you do for programming while the Royal George is closed?

We will be producing shows in the Court House theatre, and we will be doing other ancillary programming during the summer months. The Court House theatre will be a reduced audience layout from our previous one, as that layout is no longer deemed safe by fire codes. The new Court House audience layout will be more accessible.

What is the Shaw Artists’ Village?

The Shaw Artists’ Village is an extension of our Festival Campus.

At its heart will be the Burton Centre for Lifelong Creativity – home to a whole host of programmes to reconnect seniors, youth, businesses, tourists, teachers, physicians, artists, theatre lovers and local community members to their own creativity. The Shaw Artists’ Village also includes seasonal housing for Shaw artists, short-term accommodation for visiting students and artists, and a new space for our wardrobe construction shop.

The Shaw currently leases about 100 bedroom units of housing throughout Niagara-on-the-Lake to house our seasonal artists. We have done this for decades. This project will replace 30 of those bedroom units and will release that rental inventory back into the community.

When will the Shaw Artists’ Village open?

Construction began in January 2025 and is happening in a phased approach to bring each wing and its associated purpose on board. We expect the bulk of construction to be completed by late Fall 2025. The public opening is targeted for May 2026 in time for our 2026 season, though we will be testing programs and spaces with some public activity beginning as early as March or April.

How are these projects being funded?

Both the Artists’ Village and Royal George projects are being funded through a mix of private fundraising and government support that is above and beyond our annual operating requirements.

As Niagara’s largest cultural charity, this is how we or other charities would fund a major capital work.

We have just launched the public phase of our campaign All. Together. Now. We have already raised $110M of our $150M goal that includes both building projects and support for the expanded programs that will be filling these spaces and also endowed funds to maintain the new buildings.

For more information about the campaign or to make a donation please visit our website for more information on how to get involved.

How are the Provincial and Federal Governments supporting the projects?

The April 1^st funding announcement of $35M from the Ontario Government was welcomed news that allowed us to announce the rebuilding of the Royal George Theatre.

We received an initial contribution of $15M from Heritage Canada for the Artists’ Village project and the new housing component therein and are awaiting news on funding for the Royal George Theatre project that will bring the Federal contribution in line with that of the province, as is normative to public/private partnerships (which are usually approximately 1/3 each).

To get regular updates about the progress of the Royal George Theatre project or to speak to someone directly please email [email protected]