The Centre

Drabinsky's $24-Million Show Palace

The theatre opened in 1995 as the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts, built for roughly $24 million by impresario Garth Drabinsky and his Livent company and launched with a marquee run of Show Boat. The architect was Moshe Safdie, who also designed the neighbouring Vancouver Public Library. Livent collapsed financially and the theatre went dark after about three years; Drabinsky and his co-founder were later convicted of fraud.

From Touring Stage to Sanctuary

After Livent failed, the shuttered building sold in 2001 to Four Brothers Entertainment, run by the four Law brothers of Denver, then again in 2013 to Westside Church, a local evangelical congregation. The church cancelled all bookings from August 2013 on, which scrapped events including the Vancouver International Film Festival and GOH Ballet's Nutcracker. The building now doubles as a worship space and a commercial rental venue.

The Three-Tier Room

The hall seats up to 1,820 across Orchestra (1,063), Dress Circle (367), and Balcony (390), behind a 50-foot proscenium opening with a stage about 95 feet wide. Its published spec lists a d&b audiotechnik V-series line array with B-series subs, a DiGiCo SD9 console, Jands Vista lighting control, and an 87-set manual fly system on seven-foot centres. The three levels offer distinct vantage points, from the orchestra floor to the balcony.

A Rental House Downtown

The Centre now markets itself plainly as a rental venue, a roughly 1,800-seat theatre available for touring Broadway, ballet, and music of every genre, sitting beside the Vancouver Public Library. Because it books show by show instead of running a resident season, its concert calendar stays irregular and event-driven.