The Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts is a 43,000-square-foot (4,000 m2) multi-use cultural facility on 1.5 acres (6,100 m2) of land directly on Yonge Street in the heart of Richmond Hill's downtown core, at the corner of Yonge and Wright Streets. The Centre will provide a home for Richmond Hill's diverse arts community, create a destination in the downtown core, and be a major venue to bring Canadian and international performing and visual arts to Richmond Hill and York Region.
Canadian architect Jack Diamond, and his firm Diamond and Schmitt Architects, have been given the task to design the Centre's building, and Michael Grit had been chosen by the Town Council as the first theater manager. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on October 5, 2005, and the opening night was February 28, 2009. Among others, David Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario addressed the crowd during the opening ceremony. The schedule for the next year was announced June 2, 2009.
The Centre is to host:
- Main Auditorium, seating 631 guests, the largest seating capacity of any theatre in York Region.
- The 150-seat Rehearsal Hall with a flexible configuration for interactive presentations, dinner theatre, award ceremonies and corporate events.
- Lobby Galleries to display an array of visual arts.
- Outdoor Piazza perfect to exhibit large-scale art and to bring productions and presentations in the open air (alfresco).
- Multi-purpose rooms for meetings, classrooms etc.
- Restored Heritage Building which will house the Centre’s administrative offices on the second floor while future commercial and/or retail spaces are being considered for the ground level.
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