The Shaw Festival will close the iconic Royal George Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake at the end of the 2025 season.
The Festival announced its upcoming slate of shows, but also announced the upcoming closure of the 305-seat theatre due to a previous flood and lack of accessibility.
CEO Tim Jennings says the Shaw has bought neighbouring properties to hopefully rebuild on Queen Street.
He says they are in talks with all levels of government, and they hope to have a new theatre built, and open by 2028.
Jennings says they have high hopes of building Canada's first carbon neutral theatre.
Deputy Lord Mayor of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Erwin Wiens, tells CKTB the Royal George Theatre is extremely important to the town, and hundreds of tourism jobs depend on the success of the Shaw Festival.
"The Royal George alone brings in $70 million a year in economic benefit. That's 100,000 people going through the Royal George Theatre alone a year, just the theatre, not the whole festival."
He says the town supports a rebuild of the theatre, but didn't commit to a financial number.
Wiens says they will continue to advocate with the Shaw Festival to provincial and federal levels of government.
The Shaw Festival generates $280 million a year for the Niagara Region.