Plans for Western Sydney Performing Arts Centre revealed
Plans are underway for a new 2000-seat theatre to bring world-class performances to Western Sydney.
The Standard
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Plans for a self-funded $100 million dollar multipurpose performing arts centre in Rooty Hill were officially unveiled this week.
The Western Sydney Performing Arts Centre will include a 2000-seat theatre with plans to host major events including musicals, concerts, orchestras and the ballet.
More than 100 people attended the official launch of the centre in Circular Quay on Monday including media personality Richard Wilkins, GWS chairman Tony Shepherd and actor Lucy Durack.
Construction of the WSPAC will begin this month and is due to be completed in late 2019.
Plans for a five-star Pullman Hotel alongside the centre, which will be on the corner of Sherbrooke St and Francis Rd in Rooty Hill, are also underway.
Wilkins, who hosted the launch in front of the iconic Sydney Opera House, said it was “a very special and exciting occasion”.
“… It certainly is about time Western Sydney had a theatre of its own,” he said.
The television presenter said WSPAC would generate “another level of excitement in the west”.
“It’s brave, it’s bold, and it’s wonderful,” he said.
Chief executive officer of the WSPAC Richard Errington said the facility was being “built for the community by the community”.
“It’s 100 per cent funded and underwritten by the Rooty Hill RSL,” he said.
“There’s not one cent of government or taxpayer money here.”
Mr Errington said the plan for WSPAC began five years ago after the club found it was “limited by our existing facilities” when it came to hosting major entertainment events and productions.
The plan originally was to build a concert venue but the scope soon expanded.
“Rather than just being a concert venue, it became a performing arts centre,” Mr Errington said.
Mr Errington said the building needed to be of a scale that would attract large productions.
“When we considered it, we wanted something that would match those in central Sydney,” he said.
The centre’s design, created by Cox Architecture, features a flowing facade aimed to represent a stage curtain drawn across the foyers and theatre drum.
“The crimson windows allow patrons to peek beyond the curtain, whetting their appetites for the world they are about to be transported to,” Cox Architecture senior associate Michael Bradburn siad.
Mr Errington said the building’s design was “iconic”.
“I reckon it’s the Opera House on steroids,” he said.
The WSPAC will also include a state of the art fly tower, trap room, orchestra pit, and dressing and green rooms.
“It’s just got everything you could possibly hope for and more some,” Mr Errington said.
The centre will also be available for schools and community groups to use.
“Being what it is, it’s still a community facility that can be used by the facility,” Mr Errington said.
GWS Giants chairman Tony Shepherd said the centre would not only be a source of entertainment but a source of “jobs and growth” for the area.
“It’ll be a tremendous job generator in Western Sydney,” he said.
Actor Lucy Durack, who is currently starring in The Wizard of Oz in Brisbane, said it was “thrilling to have a brand new, state-of-the-art theatre in Sydney”.
“I think it’s wonderful,” she said.
The Sisters actor said the centre would provider greater opportunities to Western Sydney locals to experience theatre as well as inspire the next generation of performing artists and production crew.
“Being around any industry makes it seem so much more possible to have a career in that industry,” she said.
