Centre in the Square's executive director talks about efforts to rejuvenate performing arts space

CBC News

· Posted: May 11, 2025 10:09 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

It's been conscionable implicit a twelvemonth since Eric Lariviere became enforcement manager of Kitchener's Centre successful the Square.

He started successful the relation conscionable months aft the metropolis owned performing arts space's calendar was near with ample holes owed to the bankruptcy of the K-W Symphony.

But helium had a extremity to assistance revitalize and rejuvenate the iconic space. 

Lariviere joined CBC K-W's Craig Norris, big of The Morning Edition, to speech astir the absorption of the city-owned space.

Audio of this interrogation tin beryllium recovered astatine the bottommost of this story. 

This interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

Craig Norris: Last clip we spoke, Centre successful the Square was getting acceptable to unfastened the Studio Theatre to antithetic assemblage groups. Let's commencement there. How's that been going?

Eric Lariviere: Yeah, this has been a bully initiative. This is portion of 1 of our priorities that we established for 2024 and reopening the workplace was 1 of the large goals of the assemblage engagement strategy. 

We created this level called Kitchener Creates to marque definite that we could person that abstraction that truly tin bash a batch of things with astir 200 radical oregon little depending connected the configuration. And past that led to aggregate activities. We're going to person the afloat play of the theatre instauration institution Pat the Dog. 

We had the large drama meal theatre amusement Faulty Towers, which truly animated the workplace for implicit 8 performances. 

We're talking to Empty Space, the different large institution that we person successful town, and there's different quality coming this twelvemonth for adjacent season. 

So I deliberation it's on the close trajectory. At the extremity of the day, different precedence is to physique capacity, and arsenic we physique that capacity we're going to beryllium capable to bash much partnerships and put much successful that space. 

I judge this abstraction is going to beryllium precise busy. You'll spot much coming for adjacent season. So we're blessed with the results truthful far.

Norris: You besides did immoderate beauteous large renovations successful the main auditorium. What person you been proceeding feedback-wise from the assemblage connected those changes?

Lariviere: I deliberation it's been precise positive. The caller accessibility space, those that request that space, for instance, they truly person a antithetic acquisition due to the fact that present they're facing the stage. 

So it's been much and much uptick connected that and good comments arsenic acold arsenic the caller seats, a batch of bully comments. Also, you get much abstraction and it's comfy of course, they're marque new. My predecessor did the occupation connected that one, but it's been rather good received.

Norris: When the symphony filed for bankruptcy, it near a batch of dates bare astatine Centre successful the Square. How were you capable to bounce backmost from?

Lariviere: I deliberation the team's done a bully occupation successful bouncing backmost due to the fact that erstwhile you looked astatine the symphony's enactment successful 2023, I deliberation 2022 we had astir 92 events total. So if you instrumentality retired the symphony, it was astir 66 and we ended up astatine 112. So it's implicit 70 per cent increase. I deliberation it went well. 

We established immoderate priorities. Basically, we had 4 large strategical pillars: We had the destination, we had assemblage engagement, capableness gathering and branding. 

So erstwhile you look astatine the destination, fundamentally the extremity was to summation and fortify our presumption arsenic a champion successful people destination for unrecorded experiences and to bash so, of course, we worked with our existent clients and we expanded. 

We had a concern program that expanded vertically and horizontally for our business, our commercialized concern and different business. 

As acold arsenic our programs, we expanded connected diverseness and assortment of programs. 

So we enactment with promoters that for instance, bring, for example, Samay Raina from India, who is simply a huge, precise fashionable comedian and we sold retired 2 shows. We brought, you know, Fadu Diva Mariza … And these were bully experiences and arsenic you bash those experiences, of course, immoderate volition enactment well, immoderate volition enactment OK and that's portion of the program of investing and growing.

Norris: So the bankruptcy for the symphony has been annulled. Do you foresee Centre successful the Square having the symphony backmost successful the coming season?

Lariviere: Well, I deliberation the symphony has done an astonishing occupation successful coming back. Really the musicians, the board, Bill Poole the seat of the board, and the radical of musicians that person worked incredibly hard. They had a bully play successful the assemblage and the church. I was astatine a performance past week. It was a sold retired performance there. 

One of the archetypal things I did erstwhile I came, I reached retired to them and we started a dialog and I deliberation I'm rather optimistic successful seeing the orchestra backmost astatine the Centre successful the Square successful immoderate signifier and form.

I mean, it's a pugnacious situation for an orchestra due to the fact that the backing is truthful critically important and past gathering the assemblage is different cardinal factor. 

The mode people, let's telephone it, devour their escaped clip oregon their leisure has truly drastically changed successful the past years and with the pandemic, adjacent much so. So astatine the extremity of the day, I think, arsenic each of america successful the unrecorded experiences concern and industry, we person that situation that we person to beryllium truly paying attraction to.

Norris: What are you personally astir excited astir arsenic you participate into your 2nd twelvemonth astatine the helm of Centre successful the Square?

Lariviere: Same things I conjecture I was excited astir a twelvemonth ago. You person a jewel here. It's a large space. What it tin bash is conscionable unbelievable. 

With much investments we can continue to turn in variety, diverseness and enactment with the assemblage - the assemblage engagement is incredibly important. 

I deliberation there's immoderate projects that we're going to commencement announcing connected May 29 and I deliberation connected the longer term, there's adjacent much that truly showcase however fortunate this assemblage is to beryllium capable to person that benignant of infrastructure.

LISTEN | Centre In The Square's enforcement manager reflects connected the past year: