Friends of the Concert Hall
The Ottawa Concert Hall – 150 Elgin Street

For over 40 years, every study of arts facility requirements for the City of Ottawa has detailed the enormous need for a medium-sized concert hall in Ottawa. In fact, Ottawa is the only capital city of a major industrialized nation that does not have a concert hall that is purpose-built for music.

The Ottawa Concert Hall will be known internationally as one of the great medium-sized concert halls of the world and as one of Canada’s most celebrated cultural venues. Seating 925 people, it will be virtually unique in its ability to serve over 30 community partners and to help them in their current and future objectives. Recordings, DVD’s, radio broadcasts and television broadcasts from the Ottawa Concert Hall will be heard and seen around the world. Organizations representing all styles of music have indicated the strong need for such a facility and the tremendous opportunities that will be created once it is built. This project provides a solution to almost all of the current identified facility needs for the Ottawa music community. It will complement the performing arts spaces available at the National Arts Centre, the many church venues currently used by arts groups and the multi-purpose spaces available at Centrepointe in the west-end and the the east-end Shenkman Arts Centre.

Location
The Ottawa Concert Hall will be located at the intersection of Elgin Street and Laurier Avenue as part of the proposed development project of Morguard Developments at 150 Elgin Street. This highly visible location is ideal for such a venue. It is right in the heart of downtown Ottawa and is only four blocks from Parliament Hill. It is within easy walking distance of all of the major downtown hotels, creating a bridge between the hotels and downtown office towers and the lively restaurant and nightclub district that starts one block to the south on Elgin Street. As well, it is one block away from Ottawa’s current transit route, which will soon be Ottawa’s light rail route.

A world-class concert hall at this location would be a major benefit to the entire Ottawa arts community. Close proximity to the National Arts Centre and to Arts Court will contribute to a critical mass to create a vibrant Arts and Culture District in the downtown core.

This location is also across the street from Ottawa City Hall, the Festival Plaza and Confederation Park where a great deal of festival activity takes place. As well, the Concert Hall lies on Ottawa’s Ceremonial route and, as such, would be visible to all visiting heads of state and all major tourism initiatives. The Concert Hall will be a visible reminder to all visitors to Ottawa of the vibrant cultural scene of Ottawa, Ontario and Canada. With the 20/20 goals of downtown intensification, urban renewal and significantly improved public transportation, the Ottawa Concert Hall will be a major contributor to the revitalization of the central core of Ottawa.

Uses
The Ottawa Concert Hall will be used primarily for presentation of live musical performances by solo artists, small-to-medium sized instrumental ensembles, orchestras and choral ensembles. It will be used for all styles of music including jazz, folk, classical, blues, rock, and country, as well as youth ensembles and world music representing all nations and all cultures. The perfect natural acoustics of the Ottawa Concert Hall will also make it an ideal music recording facility.

The Concert Hall will be configured with sufficient flexibility so that it can also be used for meetings, receptions, and for other arts events such as literary readings and film presentations that do not require complex staging and sets.

The need for the Ottawa Concert Hall project has been an ongoing saga in Ottawa for almost four decades. Indeed, the original plans for the National Arts Centre contemplated including such a hall, and the Concert Hall complex will be highly complementary to the large concert hall and the theatre spaces of the NAC. The City of Ottawa has done regular studies over four decades that have continued to show that a medium-sized concert hall is at the top of the list of cultural facilities needs. Over the last five years, virtually every music organization and music festival has articulated the overwhelming need for such a facility. There will be extremely strong community use of this concert facility.

The Ottawa Concert Hall will become one of Canada’s most vibrant arts centres. The Hall would host over 250 events, over 300 rehearsals and over 100 recording sessions per year, drawing thousands of people to the complex and contributing to the revitalization of the City’s downtown core. In fact, it is projected that an audience of over 200,000 would frequent the Ottawa Concert Hall annually. Millions of people from Ottawa, across Canada and around the world will enjoy the Hall through broadcasts and recordings. Over 30 arts organizations in Ottawa have already expressed their interest in renting the facility for rehearsals, performances and other events. The Ottawa Concert Hall will also be available on a limited basis to private promoters for commercial use.

Cost
This facility will cost $37 million which includes a $5 million endowment fund to ensure the Ottawa Concert Hall can always meet its basic operating costs and keep its doors open. $13 million has already been earmarked for such a facility from the City of Ottawa and the Province of Ontario combined. $4 million has been committed to the project from Morguard Developments. The Government of Canada has been asked to contribute $8 million. $12 million is being raised by the Friends of the Concert Hall from memberships, individual donations, foundation grants, corporate donations and corporate sponsorship.