Winnipeg’s Park Theater Uses Pandemic Closure for Major Renovations – Winnipeg | The Canadian News

While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected countless industries, one of the hardest hit has been live entertainment.

With public health orders forcing venues to close, stay-at-home touring artists and concert goers uncomfortable gathering in crowds again, concert venues large and small have struggled over the past year to stay afloat, a period that has seen many close their doors forever.

Yet for a mainstay in Winnipeg’s South Osborne neighborhood, the months and months of forced closure presented an opportunity to tackle some significant renovations, so when patrons return to the Park Theater on October 8, they will see a place transformed.

“It’s going to be very different, our capacity will almost double,” said Cory Thomas, the park’s talent buyer.

“Before, you would go in, there was the lobby and there was a door to enter the place to see the band. Now it’s just a big room … 700 people. We were exceeding the previous capacity.

“We were constantly selling tickets to the shows and we knew we could have a couple hundred more tickets for each of those shows. We could never find that time to close for two or three months. We were always so busy … and then the pandemic hit. “

Thomas said the renovations have also included better wheelchair accessibility, something the venue has wanted to install for some time.

Thomas said the centennial park, which already underwent a complete exterior façade renovation a few years ago, took a huge risk by spending money on the reindeer during a period when no money was coming in but filling a void in the city. . As a medium-sized place, it’s probably worth it.

“It will be for the better. Now we are going to do all these more important events…. It’s amazing, ”said Thomas.

“We are already receiving many reservations for the new year that we would not have had otherwise.

“Even some bigger promoters who didn’t book our room too much, I suddenly hear from them every day. The Garrick didn’t last the pandemic, so now that the Garrick is gone, it made even more sense that we needed to fill that void of being that place for 700 people. “

The Park will introduce its new facilities to concert goers on October 8 with one of three consecutive shows from local punk legends Propagandhi.

“What better band than Propagandhi has to do our first gig in the new Park?”