Four Seasons Centre - Economic Impact

Economic Impact

The Ballet Corporation and The Opera House Corporation were advocating for a new home in the 1980s. As with all building ventures government and private industry begin collaborating on joint efforts involving shared expenditures. Following a design competition won by Moshe Safdie approval for a new building at Bay and Wellesley was underway and demolition of existing properties began for a $311,000,000 project in 1988. In 1990 a new NDP government was elected and this costly project was scrapped due to its costs in an economic climate where excessive spending was not being supported. The Canadian Opera Company and The National Ballet of Canada never gave up hope of a new building and in 2002 presented to the government plans for a new building later to be called The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Since a large hotel chain, Four Seasons was contributing millions of dollars into this project it was agreed that the name Four Seasons would remain part of the new building name. Architects from Diamond and Schmitt won the design contest and three years of construction lead to the opening of a building at 145 Queen Street West at a cost of $181 million dollars in 2006. This modern building is known for having long floating glass staircase and an auditorium that is in the shape of a horseshoe shaped 2035 seat auditorium with exceptional acoustics.