There鈥檚 no better way to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the McPherson Playhouse than to fix it up so it will last another 100 years.
The Capital Regional District鈥檚 finance committee is recommending the awarding of a $1.7-million contract to upgrade heating and ventilation systems, add air conditioning and renovate dressing rooms.
The building, first known as the Pantages Theatre, was completed in 1914 as a collaboration involving local entrepreneurs, including developer Thomas Shanks McPherson and Alexander Pantages, the American vaudeville and motion picture impresario whose theatre empire stretched across sa国际传媒 and the U.S.
It was a grand building, not only in its baroque decor, but in its advanced design that used steel and concrete materials and included state-of-the-art fire-safety equipment. It had a heating and ventilation system that could circulate the air every three minutes.
The building had its ups and downs that mirrored economic fluctuations, and underwent several name changes. After other partners dropped out, McPherson was left as sole owner. Always civic-minded (he made the first legacy gift to the University of Victoria), he left the theatre to the city of Victoria, along with a substantial amount of money for renovations. In 1964, two years after his death, the city named the building the McPherson Playhouse in his honour. It has since been the venue for a wide variety of performing arts, both professional and amateur.
The renovations will help ensure the building鈥檚 future while preserving an important piece of Victoria鈥檚 past.
