The current owner of the Gladstone Theatre in Ottawa says he no longer enjoys the stress of operating the business, and has listed the building for sale for just under $1 million.
Steve Martin, the current owner of the Gladstone Theatre, says he doesn’t enjoy the stress of managing a theatre and that he wants to focus on acting. (CBC News)
“I really don’t actually have the skill set or the business acumen to produce theatre and to manage and operate a theatre,” Steve Martin told CBC News on Monday.
“I love theatre, but I realize that I’m an actor and a performer and that’s where I need to be. … My skills are on the stage.”
Martin stressed that the 2015-2016 theatre season will go ahead as planned.
“This current season … is not in jeopardy in any way, shape or form. The sale of the building is conditional upon the buyer honouring the current lease, which goes until June of 2016, so keep buying your tickets,” he said.
Martin reached an agreement with local theatre companies in 2011 to take over production.
David Whiteley, the Gladstone’s season co-ordinator and co-artistic director of Plosive Productions — which leases the theatre — said they’ve since made progress to the point where they’re “just at the threshold of functioning.”
“We’re not making any profit but we are breaking even and doing theatre that we value creating and that audiences coming to the Gladstone appreciate seeing,” Whiteley said.
“So I see every reason for us to continue on the leasing/renting side, to keep the Gladstone as a theatre and to keep doing the kind of theatre that we’re doing.”
235-seat theatre listed for $995,000
A Royal LePage Realty listing says the “fully renovated” building at 910 Gladstone Ave., just off Preston Street, is listed for $995,000.
While used as a performing arts theatre, the building could also be used as a rental facility, conference hall, music hall, movie theatre, or for religious gatherings, the listing says.
The building’s features include a stage, seating for 235 people, a box office, a main lobby with cantina or bar area and coat check, as well as a sound room, office and accessible washrooms.
The art-deco style theatre opened in 2008 after Martin bought the old GCTC building in 2007 when that theatre company moved to Wellington Street.
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