Bank Theatre
2017-2019
Passa Architects was requested by the Sun Parlour Players of Leamington, Ontario to provide architectural services to develop the Master Planning for the permanent home of the local theatre group and a public entertainment venue for the Municipality of Leamington. The Bank Theatre and Meeting Place has been a long term vision and fund-raising project by the Sun Parlour Players and the community of Leamington for many years and has finally come to fruition with these ongoing stages of renovations to the former historic Bank of Montreal building the heart of the urban core. Passa Architects was tasked with providing design services to incorporate an adjacent two-storey former commercial / residential building into the Bank Theatre design and expand the existing Bank Theatre into a fully functional and architecturally significant venue. The construction of the project is phased to contend with government and private funding initiatives. The first phase consists of the complete renovation of the adjacent building with multiple access points created between the existing theatre and adjacent building including a grand staircase allowing access from the future ground floor lobby of the theatre to the second floor of the adjacent building. In addition, the entire two floors of the adjacent building will be renovated to provided washrooms, a ticket office and main entry for the theatre as well as a second floor multi-purpose room which will act as a meeting room and adjunct bar facility for functions. The second phase will comprise of tiered retractable seating in the revised theatre space which can collapse and be stored away to allow for table arrangements for dinner theatre, upgrading of the theatre lighting and sound systems, mechanical systems, and the creation of a second-floor mezzanine space forming a grand two storey curved lobby below. The design of the spaces are intended to reference the location of the municipality on Lake Erie where the majority of shipwrecks on the Great Lakes lie off its shores with hints of ship framing, birds and water aspects brought into the concept.