Timing right to replace Tom Patterson Theatre, Stratford Festival head says

The Stratford Festival wants to build a new, world-class complex on the site of the Tom Patterson Theatre.

"We have a vision of this complex that would really put Stratford at the front of classical theatres in the world," Anita Gaffney, executive director Stratford Festival, told The Morning Edition's host Craig Norris Monday.

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"The new theatre would have a Tom Patterson theatre, but it would also have a space for our forum activities, where we have lectures and debates and concerts that compliment the plays," Gaffney said.

"Today we do those things in our lobbies and in our other theatres. It doesn't really have a dedicated space."

They would also like to create a space for educational outreach as well as a new laboratory.

"We have two or three new plays that appear on our stages each year and those come from our lab system where plays are developed in workshop and worked on with our actors and writers, and that takes several years and it takes some space to do it," she said.

'Recreate that wonderful feeling'

The local landmark in Stratford has served as a curling rink, badminton court, community centre and a playhouse.

The festival has been using the building on a "temporary basis" for 45 years.

But the building itself is old and fragile.

Gaffney said each winter, they have to remove the lighting because the roof cannot support the weight of both the lights and accumulated snow.

Making any changes to building would jeopardize stability, engineers have told them.

"It was time to do something and this kind of intersected with a vision we have to replace the Tom Patterson Theatre and recreate that wonderful feeling of it, but give us a nice, new facility that would be comfortable and accessible and safe for our patrons," Gaffney said.

Stratford is also now looking into building a new community hub that would benefit people who would lose the community centre that is attached to the current Tom Patterson Theatre.

Gaffney said they are still fairly early in the planning stages. They are scoping out design ideas, talking to neighbouring homeowners and businesses and working out funding. While the festival will raise much of the money through a private fundraising campaign, it is also hoping for provincial and federal funds.