Werklund Centre expansion gets $4-million McCann family donation for 200-seat theatre

The McCann family has donated $4 million to the Werklund Centre expansion, with the gift naming the new 200-seat McCann Family Studio Theatre announced Thursday.

Rod McCann, president and chief executive of Saskatchewan Mining and Minerals, said the arts facilities are essential for attracting talent to a city. "If you're going to be a world-class city, if you're going to attract world-class people and employees, you need to have facilities like this and provide them with those opportunities beyond a good job," he said. McCann previously served on the Arts Commons board of directors.

The theatre will be reconfigurable, with Alex Sarian, the Werklund Centre's president and chief executive, describing how it will adapt. "It will be a theatre that changes constantly depending on who is walking through the doors," he said.

The expansion also includes the 1,000-seat Osten-Victor Playhouse, which honours late donors Al Osten and Buddy Victor, who gave $12 million. Together, the two new theatres will increase the Werklund Centre's attendance capacity by 45 per cent. The centre is currently operating at capacity and hosted more than 2,000 events last year, making it one of the most active performance art centres in North America.

The 170,000-square-foot expansion sits within a broader $306-million budget. The plaza and expansion projects are fully funded and set to open to the public in 2028. A separate campus modernization project with a $345-million budget is partially funded and not slated to begin until at least 2029, pending additional funding availability.