'Step in the right direction': Centennial Concert Hall encouraged by prospect of reopening

Manitoba considers move to Code Orange The province is looking at moving Manitoba from code red to code orange and loosening several restrictions. CTV's Stephanie Tsicos reports.

WINNIPEG — The province is considering easing a number of restrictions, including allowing venues like theatres and concert halls to reopen.

It’s welcome news to the Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” said Robert Olson, CEO of the Manitoba Centennial Centre Corporation.

Olson said when the venue briefly reopened in October, they hosted about five live shows which received a warm reception from the audience. The concert hall was forced to close for a second time in November when the province moved to Code Red.

“We have never been closed. For those that remember, the concert hall was opened in 1968, and it’s been a continuous slate of about 200 performances a year, and we have never experienced anything like we’ve experienced this past year,” said Olson.

On Thursday, the province announced it’s considering allowing indoor theatres and concert halls to reopen at 25 per cent capacity or 250 people—whichever is lower.

“This is perhaps the most profoundly damaged part of the Canadian economy, and Manitoba is no exception,” said Premier Brian Pallister.

“The arts and culture community has suffered significantly as a consequence of the necessity for the lockdowns that we’ve undertaken here and other provinces have as well.”

Olson said he appreciates the government’s cautious approach to reopening.

“We don’t want to go backwards. We want to make sure that once we introduce a live audience to our venues that we won’t have to close down again in two months or a month, whatever the case may be,” said Olson.

Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin noted there’s always a risk with easing restrictions, but said it’s about finding the balance.

“This is a dramatically reduced capacity with a cap, and so there will be a lot of guidelines and protocols in place,” said Roussin.

Olson said spacing people out won’t be an issue, and safety protocols will be in places.

Centennial Concert Hall is able to seat approximately 2,300 patrons, but under the proposed guidelines it would only be able to seat a maximum of 250 people.

“We don’t anticipate that this will generate net positive income for us, but I think what’s important from our perspective is to start to build live audience confidence in venues like ours, and movie theatres,” said Olson.

He said the concert hall will be ready to open whenever they get the green light from the province, but there are other factors that could affect when the first show is held.

“We don’t know who will be interested in performing on the stage at the concert hall with 250 people. We suspect some might, so we will be ready at 250.”

Olson also noted until the Canada-U.S. border reopens, it puts a barrier between what performers they’re able to book.

The province did not share a timeline on when the proposed changes could take shape, and is asking Manitobans to provide feedback at EngageMB.ca.