Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Four Seasons Centre seen from University Avenue with sun shades covering its glazed facade
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| Location | 145 Queen Street West Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 4G1 |
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| Coordinates | 43°39′02″N 79°23′08″W / 43.65056°N 79.38556°WCoordinates: 43°39′02″N 79°23′08″W / 43.65056°N 79.38556°W |
| Owner | Canadian Opera House Corporation |
| Type | Opera house |
| Capacity | 2,071 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 14 June 2006 |
| Architect | Diamond+Schmitt |
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Canadian Opera Company National Ballet of Canada |
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| Website | |
| Four Seasons Centre | |
The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts is a 2,071-seat theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located at the southeast corner of University Avenue and Queen Street West, across from Osgoode Hall. The land on which it is located was a gift from the Government of Ontario. It is the home of the Canadian Opera Company (COC) and the National Ballet of Canada. The building's modernist design by was created by Canadian company Diamond and Schmitt Architects, headed by Jack Diamond. It was completed in 2006. The design includes an unusual glass staircase.
In the 1980s the Canadian Opera Company and Financier Hal Jackman, president of the Ballet Opera House Corporation, had begun lobbying for a new building to replace the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts (earlier named the Hummingbird Centre and O'Keefe Centre). This building had housed the opera company for about 40 years. The company had also previously been housed in the Royal Alexandra Theatre on King Street and the Elgin Theatre on Yonge Street. Earlier in the city's history, the Grand Opera House stood at Bay and Adelaide until it was demolished in 1927.
In 1984, Ontario premier Bill Davis promised that a piece of provincial-owned land at Bay Street and Wellesley Street would be the home for the new opera house. The lot was estimated to be worth some $75 million.
A design competition was won by the postmodern project of Moshe Safdie. In 1988, the project was approved and the existing stores and government offices on the site were demolished.
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