Shadbolt Centre for the Arts gets go-ahead for $55-million rebuild of James Cowan Theatre
Reconstruction of 1940s performing-arts space to begin later this year, with an estimated completion in 2027
Rendering of the new James Cowan Theatre at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. Photo courtesy of City of Burnaby
THE SHADBOLT CENTRE FOR THE ARTS’ James Cowan Theatre has just been approved for a complete rebuild by the City of Burnaby, which will provide the venue with long-awaited improvements to space, flexibility, and accessibility.
Originally built in the 1940s as a gymnasium, the James Cowan Theatre was converted into a performing-arts space in 1995.
“This is a great opportunity to upgrade the James Cowan Theatre so that it can continue to play an important role in the vibrant arts, cultural, and community space that exists at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts,” said Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley in a release.
The new 38,000-square-foot theatre, with an estimated project cost of $55 million, will feature 364 seats, an upgrade from the current theatre’s capacity of 285. The seating will be fully retractable to allow for a versatile space that can be converted into a large reception or atrium hall.
Elsewhere in the building, three new classroom studios will be built for visual arts, multi-use, and theatre and literary arts. Because three existing studios will be demolished during the reconstruction, some fine-arts programming is expected to be relocated to the nearby Christine Sinclair Community Centre, Burnaby Village Museum, and other City of Burnaby-run sites over the next few years.
There are also notable changes to safety and accessibility being made. The new structure will be earthquake-compliant with a wheelchair-accessible entrance. The main theatre hall will have a flat floor, and gender-neutral and universal washrooms will be onsite. The existing James Cowan Theatre is not fit for wheelchair use or earthquake-safe.
Along with the James Cowan Theatre, the building complex is also home to a second performing-arts space: the more intimate black-box Studio Theatre, which seats 172 plus an extra 22 in the mezzanine. This space, along with the rest of the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts complex built in 1995, will remain open throughout construction to accommodate for its estimated 250,000 annual visitors.
The Shadbolt will close out its 2023-24 season programming in early May before construction begins later this year. The new James Cowan Theatre is expected to open in 2027. 
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