National Arts Centre (building)

In 1928, the National Capital Commission expropriated and demolished the Russell Theatre to make way for Confederation Square, leaving Ottawa without a major performing arts venue. Performers and orchestras visiting the capital were required to use the stage of the Capitol Cinema, which had been designed for vaudeville and films. In 1963, G. Hamilton Southam and Levi Pettler founded the National Capital Arts Alliance with the goal of creating a suitable venue. They successfully convinced the city and government to build the new centre downtown on Elgin Street and the Rideau Canal. The NAC was one of a number of projects launched by the government of Lester B. Pearson to commemorate Canada's 1967 centenary. It opened its doors to the public for the first time on 31 May 1969, at a cost of C$46 million. The site at one time was home to Ottawa City Hall, and the city donated the land to the federal government. In June 2010, Queen Elizabeth II unveiled a life-size bronze statue of the Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson outside the NAC during her royal tour of Canada. ==Architecture==

in front of National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Ontario Canada The building, designed by Fred Lebensold, is in the Brutalist style and is based on the shape of a triangle and hexagon. The building is constructed of reinforced concrete. The exterior and many interior walls are faced with precast concrete panels containing exposed aggregate of crushed brown Laurentian granite. In 2000, the NAC was named by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada as one of the top 500 buildings produced in Canada during the last millennium. In 2014, Heritage Minister Shelly Glover and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced a $110 million facelift of the NAC. At construction, the centre was oriented toward a planned lagoon on the east, which was never constructed. The work would expand meeting and event facilities, install entrances and windows to reorient the focus toward Parliament Hill, and upgrade washroom facilities. The renovated centre opened 1 July 2017 for Canada's 150th Anniversary. == Performance facilities ==

The NAC has four concert venues: • Southam Hall, with 2,065 seats, is the largest stage and is home to the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra as well as ballet, opera and other major visiting shows and productions. • Babs Asper Theatre, with 897 seats, is mostly used for theatre and dance events, plus some concerts. It is home to the Indigenous, English-language and French-language theatre companies. • Azrieli Studio, with 307 seats, is a theatre venue and musical concert space suited for performances requiring a more intimate space. • Fourth Stage, with 152 chairs, opened in 2001 and was completely rebuilt in 2016-17, reopening in October, 2017. It is home to most NAC Presents concerts and a wide variety of community programming. == See also ==