The Canadian Ballet Youth Ensemble officially unveiled its plan yesterday to transform the dilapidated downtown theatre into a modern day performing arts academy.
The tentative design calls for the surviving auditorium to be restored and attached to a glass building.
A false facade or a digital projection of the old Tivoli will be built inside the glass wall on James Street North.
“(We will) bring the old and new together,†said Belma Diamante, president of the Hamilton-based ballet company.
“The Tivoli’s face is gone, but we want to bring back as much as we can.â€
The ensemble bought the theatre, which was partly demolished in 2004 after a wall collapsed, for $1 from the Sniderman family of Sam the Record Man fame. Diamante said the ballet company also issued a $550,000 charitable tax receipt for the value of the property.
Few other specific details about how much the project will cost or where the money will come from were available yesterday.
Diamante would only say the project will cost “millions†and talks are ongoing with donors and financial institutions.
The ballet company is also preparing a capital campaign and has more press conferences scheduled.
Celebrated principal ballerina Evelyn Hart, who recently retired, has accepted a position as artistic adviser for the centre. ProArteDanza, a Torontobased dance company headed by choreographer Roberto Campanella, has also agreed to make the Tivoli its new home.
Diamante said the company will work immediately to preserve what’s left of the theatre and hopes construction will begin in late 2007. The new building could be finished in three to five years, she said.
The conceptual design would be the second proposed transformation for a heritage building on James Street North. The owners of the nearby Lister Block want to tear down the landmark to build an office building with a replicated facade. The plan, which is bitterly opposed by heritage advocates, is up in the air before a provincial stakeholders group.
News of the Tivoli’s promised rebirth is already prompting calls to the city about possible use of surrounding buildings, said Gord Moodie of the downtown renewal office, and who first suggested the Tivoli to Diamante.
The historic theatre was originally a carriage factory in the 1870s. The theatre was built in back in 1924 and was the first in Hamilton to show talking
movies.
Glass facade planned for Tivoli
The reborn Tivoli will be a mirage.
The Canadian Ballet Youth Ensemble officially unveiled its plan yesterday to transform the dilapidated downtown theatre into a modern day performing arts academy.
The tentative design calls for the surviving auditorium to be restored and attached to a glass building.
A false facade or a digital projection of the old Tivoli will be built inside the glass wall on James Street North.
“(We will) bring the old and new together,†said Belma Diamante, president of the Hamilton-based ballet company.
“The Tivoli’s face is gone, but we want to bring back as much as we can.â€
The ensemble bought the theatre, which was partly demolished in 2004 after a wall collapsed, for $1 from the Sniderman family of Sam the Record Man fame. Diamante said the ballet company also issued a $550,000 charitable tax receipt for the value of the property.
Few other specific details about how much the project will cost or where the money will come from were available yesterday.
Diamante would only say the project will cost “millions†and talks are ongoing with donors and financial institutions.
The ballet company is also preparing a capital campaign and has more press conferences scheduled.
Celebrated principal ballerina Evelyn Hart, who recently retired, has accepted a position as artistic adviser for the centre. ProArteDanza, a Torontobased dance company headed by choreographer Roberto Campanella, has also agreed to make the Tivoli its new home.
Diamante said the company will work immediately to preserve what’s left of the theatre and hopes construction will begin in late 2007. The new building could be finished in three to five years, she said.
The conceptual design would be the second proposed transformation for a heritage building on James Street North. The owners of the nearby Lister Block want to tear down the landmark to build an office building with a replicated facade. The plan, which is bitterly opposed by heritage advocates, is up in the air before a provincial stakeholders group.
News of the Tivoli’s promised rebirth is already prompting calls to the city about possible use of surrounding buildings, said Gord Moodie of the downtown renewal office, and who first suggested the Tivoli to Diamante.
The historic theatre was originally a carriage factory in the 1870s. The theatre was built in back in 1924 and was the first in Hamilton to show talking
movies.