SU launches fundraising campaign for $11 million Myer Horowitz Theatre renovation

The same architecture firm that facilitated the Students’ Union Building’s atrium renovations is returning to update the Myer Horowitz Theatre. The $11 million project will be completed by 2018.

Robyn Paches, Students’ Union Vice-President (Operations and Finance), announced the SU hopes to fundraise at least $7 million of the cost through the Friends of Myer Horowitz campaign, which will involve stakeholders such as SU alumni and the arts community of Edmonton. Having been built in 1967, the upcoming renovations will mark the theatre’s 50th anniversary.

“Right now is the perfect time to embark on this renovation,” Paches said. “This allows us to build on the recently-completed atrium, as well as take on manageable construction costs.”

Paches added that the SU hopes to raise as many funds as possible. If the campaign only reaches its target of $7 million, students and the SU will have to make up the remaining $4 million with budget surplus funds and a possible dedicated fee for students. To create a dedicated fee, the student body would have to approve a referendum after the renovation’s completion. The dedicated fee funding model was approved in the past for SUB’s atrium renovations, resulting in the SUB Renovation Fund for which undergrads will pay $9.39 per semester in the upcoming academic year.

Lori Sigurdson, the province’s Minister of Seniors and Housing and former Minister of Advanced Education, presented a $40,000 Community Facility Enhancement grant to the SU to help initial planning of the Myer Horowitz Theatre’s renovations.

“I know that the Myer Horowitz Theatre certainly hosted many vibrant debates … I’m very pleased to help support you in some small way to continue that tradition,” Sigurdson, the MLA of Edmonton-Riverview, said.

Besides SU election debates, the Myer Horowitz Theatre hosts numerous community and student group events, including concerts, talks, comedy shows, and plays. In 2015, the theatre had 202 event days, with roughly a quarter of its events being hosted by student groups.

Marc Dumouchel, SU General Manager, said early sketches of the renovations will be drafted in the next two months, and will be presented online and at Students’ Council. Renovated features will include the Myer Horowitz Theatre’s lobby, box office, and entrance, as well as the replacement of the theatre’s 720 seats, changes which were previously explained to Students’ Council. Tentative plans may include a construction of a roof patio for SUB, though Dumouchel added this has not yet been decided.

The SU has selected the architecture firm DIALOG, with Principal-in-Charge and Design Architecture Lead Stephen Boyd, to work on the Myer Horowitz Theatre’s renovations. The firm has previously worked on SUB’s atrium which was completed in 2015, as well as the Royal Alberta Museum, the Francis Winspear Centre for Music, the ATB Financial Arts Barns, and the Citadel Theatre.

“(Working with DIALOG on the atrium) was awesome,” Dumouchel said. “You look at the results of the work that we did with them, and we’ve had a great response from staff, students. It’s a very warm space and it seems to open up the building.”