Focal point
Project to modernize P.E.I.’s Homburg Theatre keeps it relevant, and reaping profits

IF YOU EVER QUESTION whether the arts can have a significant impact on the economy, consider P.E.I.’s Confederation Centre of the Arts and the $15 million project to renovate its Homburg Theatre.

The theatre is part of the nearly 52-year-old Centre, which is located in Charlottetown and includes four theatres, an art gallery, restaurant and gift shop. However, the 1,100-seat Homburg had changed little since it opened in 1964 — a problem because it no longer met modern-day building or safety codes.

The $15-million, three-year project has changed that. The Homburg has been given a new seating configuration, acoustics, and staging technologies. Its backstage and pit areas are also being upgraded and restored. The project is scheduled to be complete by the spring of 2017. The project has given the local and provincial economy a big boost. Carol Horne, the Centre’s chief marketing director, says the entire $15 million is being spent on local and Canadian companies. It’s kept several architectural, engineering and construction companies busy during what’s typically a slow time of the year for them in Charlottetown.

But the economic spinoffs go beyond this project. The renovations have made the Centre modern and enable it to continue hosting world-class concerts and shows and keep its seats filled with paying customers year-round. The Centre hosts well over 200 performances each year, which generates spending and creates jobs that wouldn’t be there otherwise. Horne says a 2010 study estimated the Centre had over a $20 million economic impact in the Charlottetown area, resulted in 486 direct and indirect jobs, and contributed $7.9 million in taxes to the provincial government. “People tend to see the arts as frivolous and something where people are just out for a good time,” Horne says. “But it’s definitely a great economic generator.”