A host of new venues are slated to open in neighbourhoods across this city in the coming months. Here's a look at four soon-to-open event spaces suitable for concerts, meetings, galas, and conventions.
1. The Royal Conservatory of Music will open the Telus Centre for Performance and Learning, a new extension to its Bloor Street headquarters on September 25. Designed by Canadian architects Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg, the centre includes music studios, wired classrooms, and a library. The centre's Conservatory Theatre rehearsal hall holds 160 for dinner and 200 for cocktails, and the 1,140-seat Koerner Hall is suitable for music and spoken-word performances, lectures, and conferences. Mazzoleni Hall has permanent theater seating for 237. Meeting rooms and workshop spaces can hold groups of 12 to 69 people.
2. The Toronto Public Library’s new event centre will open in the Toronto Reference Library in September. On the second floor, the 5,000-square-foot space has windows overlooking the Rosedale Valley. Glass walls divide the venue into three areas, including a primary event space that holds 460 for lectures and 360 for seated dinners.
3. The Royal Ontario Museum plans to open a 6,000-square-foot dedicated event space on the museum’s second floor on October 1. The space, available for daytime and evening rental, has light hardwood floors, 30-foot ceilings, and large windows overlooking Queen’s Park. The facility includes a kitchen and can accommodate 300 for seated dinners and 450 for receptions or a theatre-style setup.
4. The Allstream Centre—a conference and convention centre designed to meet the LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) silver-rating standard—is scheduled to open at Exhibition Place on October 22. The venue in the former Automotive Building has a 43,900-square-foot divisible ballroom that can seat 3,000, 20 meeting rooms spread across more 30,000 square feet that can accommodate groups of 50 to 750, and 40,000 square feet of pre-function space. Wireless connectivity is available throughout and a videoconference room will hold up to 14 people. Cerise Fine Catering handles the food and beverage on site.