New all-season amphitheater at the PNE gets go-ahead

A plan to build a new 9,340 person capacity outdoor venue for concerts and festivals at the Pacific National Exhibitionhas been given the go-ahead by Vancouver city council.

The current amphitheatre, built in 1966 will be torn down with seating plans forthenew venue to be completely covered to allow for all-season events.

A report from Vancouver'scity manager and the president of the PNE saysthe renewal and upgrade of the amphitheatre will create a "world class outdoor space."

"It will enable growth for community and commercial events in the city, help establish a vibrant, year-round cultural space, and increase revenues to make the site financially sustainable and drive economic growth in the Vancouver music sector," according to the report.

The new facility, expected to cost$69.7 million, will have capacity for 4,500 bleacher seats, 4,250 floor seats and 590 VIP seats and will be scalable to accommodate events between 2,000 to 9,340 people.

The report asks city staffto expedite the project with the goal of completing the venue earlier than the projecteddate of 2026.

"Recognizing this is an important economic and cultural stimulus project that meets the identified critical void of a lack of performance space in Vancouver," the report said.

It isexpected the number of events will increase from five to49 each year with an additional22 community events, resulting "in revenue increasing from $1.4 millionto $9.7 million(estimated average annual revenue over first fiveyears), which represents a600 per centincrease in venue revenue," according to the report.