Behind the curtain: An inside look at why some won't miss the Fredericton Playhouse

The Fredericton Playhouse is two years away from drawing its final curtain, and nostalgic theatre-goers and performers have said they’ll miss the building, despite a new arts centre set to open in 2027.

But, from a leaky roof to unpredictable heating, executive director Tim Yerxa said the building won’t be missed. At least, not by him.

“People’s memories are not of the building, people’s memories are of what happens in the building," he said. "And we’re going to be able to make those happenings happen more ... in our new facility."

Working at the Fredericton Playhouse for 25 years has given him the opportunity to connect people, but Yerxa said that mission came with challenges posed by the building's integrity.

And those challenges were the theatre’s best-kept secret.

“It is in our DNA as a performing arts organization to hide reality," said Yerxa. “We come to work to suspend reality and take people into a world of fantasy.”

Yerxa recalls heavy wind and rain during a production of Spamalot years ago, causing the building's roof to leak — right above the stage.

While the performance was underway, crew members on the catwalks above the stage held a large plastic sheet to collect falling rainwater that they dumped into buckets on the sidelines.

“No one would have known,” he said.

Yerxa credits that mishap and those like it to how poorly the building was constructed.

It was built in 1964, although it appears much older because of its Edwardian architectural style dating back to the early 20th century.

“It was built as kind of an architectural fake,” said Yerxa.

Built without any insulation and problematic heating systems, Yerxa said the building is expensive to heat and maintaining an ideal temperature is nearly impossible.

And with the heating systems and pipes submerged into the concrete, Yerxa said replacing those systems would be a timely and expensive job — and would include tearing into Queen Street.

“When it comes to how the building is working, it’s really quite broken,” he said.

It’s been 14 years since work began to find a new solution for the Playhouse — either through refurbishment or a full rebuild.

“There was a lot of disbelief in the community, people who thought, ‘Well how could a building that’s only 50 years old really be at the end of its life,’” said Yerxa.

Others assumed it was a historic building in need of saving.

“The more we looked into it, the more we realized that in the 60s and 70s, when we built public buildings in this country, we didn’t build them to last,” said Yerxa.

He said the Playhouse would never have been a good candidate for a refurbishment project because of how it was designed.

Yerxa said the building also isn’t accessible and its "not fair" that those with accessibility needs are not able to access balcony seating.

The new Ron & Erma Hawkes Centre for the Arts is expected to be complete by the end of summer in 2027.