Fire up up the heavy equipment.
City councillors put the final nail in the Fisher auditorium's coffin Monday night when they voted to demolish the facility, which had initially been saved from the wrecking ball when the former Barrie Central Collegiate was torn down around it to make way for a new development.
Council has also put plans for a new theatre and conference centre on hold for 12 months, or when there’s COVID-19 recovery allowing market conditions to improve to the point that its business case can be updated and assessed. As well, city staff have been directed to look at separate sites for a new theatre and conference centre.
City officials hope to incorporate the theatre's namesake, W.A. Fisher, and legacy into any future construction of a performing arts centre.
The decision to tear down the old theatre was made after city staff reported a state-of-the-art, 650-seat theatre and conference centre cannot be delivered at the Dunlop Street West site given the project’s estimated capital and operational costs.
Based on the current design, retaining the existing foundation of the W.A. Fisher Auditorium, market assessment, analysis and overall business case review, the estimated costing to deliver two options for the project is high.
The theatre only would cost approximately $30 million to build, with annual operating costs estimated at $750,000. A theatre and conference centre comes with capital costs of $53 million, and $1.05 million in annual operating costs.
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