Kingston Grand Theatre

Project Type
Heritage & Restoration

Location
Kingston, ON

Client
City of Kingston

The 106-year-old Grand Theatre has been sensitively restored, andexpanded by a three-year renewal project which included the full renovation of the auditorium, lobby and backstage spaces making the Grand Theatre, once again, a vibrant part of the Southern Ontario cultural community.

One of the main cultural venues in the greater Kingston region, the Grand serves as the prime performing arts venue for professional and amateur performances in ballet, modern dance, drama, musicals and comedy and is the home of the Kingston Symphony Orchestra.

The building houses a 762 seat auditorium; the Baby Grand, a 130 seat black box theatre; two lounges used for receptions and art exhibits; as well as a lobby and backstage facilities.

The theatre has been dramatically transformed from a dark and dated space to a vibrant engaging hall reminiscent of its turn of the century heritage. The ground floor of the auditorium was re-worked to maximize sight-lines and new, wider theatre seats were installed throughout to increase leg-room and audience comfort. The addition of a new orchestra pit lift allows greater flexibility and provides the orchestra with generous unimpeded performance space.

Back-of-house dressing rooms and performer washrooms received a face-lift with new vanities, lighting, washroom and shower fixtures. New washrooms were also added within the multi-purpose room. Video monitoring infrastructure was added throughout the stage, dressing rooms, and auditorium. The administrative offices were consolidated to better serve the theatre and to provide improved accessibility for the public.

Project done in partnership with DSAI.