Calgary's historic GRAND Theater may be closing

GRAND Theatre, Western Canada's longest continuously operating theater, faces an uncertain future this year after talks between the GRAND Society, financiers, Arts Commons and Allied REIT ended without an agreement.

Sold to Allied in 2021, the theater has been in downtown Calgary for 112 years.

GRAND Society Executive Director Erinn Lyster said before the talks broke down, all parties believed they had reached a solution that was good for the city's arts sector.

“In short, there were four players at the table: GRAND, Arts Commons, funders and Allied. The GRAND Society itself was ready to be dissolved in order for us to do this work, and Arts Commons was going to come in as the operator of the place, because they were in a better position to do that—it would be absorbed into the larger ecosystem. they run downtown Calgary,” Lyster said.

With no deal in place, he said the GRAND's future as a theater is now uncertain.

As part of the potential settlement, GRAND requested a temporary rent reduction to prove the theater's more sustainable business model. It was supported and tacitly agreed upon by both funders and the arts community.

“We thought everyone was on the same page. We felt that the proposed proposal was a win-win for all parties involved. We were shocked to hear that the Allies had rejected our offer a few weeks ago.'

Negotiations and plans have been made for years

Laister said they were surprised the allies said no to a plan they had been negotiating for nearly a year and had been working on for nearly two years.

Requests from LWC for an interview with Allied went unanswered by the time this story was published.

“We will continue to deal with landlords in good faith. We have been on good terms during this service and I hope we can come to some kind of resolution. But it's important for us to let the community know that we're now at the 11th hour, and we've been working on the plans so far,” Lyster said.

“The last thing I want to be here is to let the community know at this late stage that they're going to have to make a tough decision later this year. and Calgary may lose the oldest theater in Western Canada.”

This latest setback for the theater was not the first time in GRAND history.

In the early 2000s, work was carried out to save the theater from demolition and in 2006 it underwent a major renovation to become the Theater Junction Grand.

During the pandemic, the staff at the theater was laid off, and the theater itself was closed for almost a year.

The availability of the theater for groups wanting to put on certain shows before the pandemic has also been criticized.

Lyster said the use of the space has recently surpassed pre-pandemic levels. The theater organized 62 different performances in 2023 and 44 different shows in 2022.

“We've recovered well from pre-pandemic levels in terms of using that space, but we have to be realistic about how much revenue we can bring in while maintaining our mission of being accessible to the arts community,” he said.

The art community was disappointed

Arts Commons CEO Alex Sarian said he was disappointed with the outcome.

“Arts communities in Canada face a very fragile and precarious future, made even more difficult with unpredictable partners,” he said.

“While our involvement is not clear, we have sought to use our experience and expertise in managing, operating and maximizing arts and gathering spaces on behalf of Calgarians to support the Society's leadership team in their efforts to preserve GRAND as a community art space. space.”

Lyster said that like many arts organizations, expenses have outstripped revenues, and they are exploring options to find a “difficult balance” between making it affordable for arts groups while also making enough money to pay space rent.

“It was not a long-term solution, we had to come up with a different operating model. We did and we presented it, we had all the players on the table and we were very happy with the plan. We had hoped to release it to the community early this year,” he said.

“Everything is sad and sad. I was on the phone nonstop telling people it was a possibility, and those who knew the plan were devastated because it seemed like a good decision. Those who think it's new to them are shocked that it won't be a place they can use in the future.”