National Arts Centre

The construction of the National Arts Centre was begun by a consortium of 55 local cultural groups called the National Capital Arts Alliance and headed by G. Hamilton Southam. In 1963, it commissioned consultants to do a feasibility study for a national centre for performing arts, which recommended a concert hall and theatre complex on Nepean Point at a cost of $9 million. The Alliance turned to the federal government for the cash and luckily Prime Minister Pearson was looking for a Centennial project for the capital at this time, so the proposal was approved in less than six weeks. Mayor Whitton offered a parcel of land that had been donated to Bytown by Nicholas Sparks in 1948. This land and the Crown-owned Russell Theatres site made up 6.5 acres on the west bank of the Rideau Canal near Confederation Square.

Planning and construction of the NAC was supervised by four advisory committees of experts, coordinated by Southam, who was also made the centre’s first director-general. This was a logical appointment because he had a long and knowledgeable connection with the performing arts. Lawrence J. Freiman was the first chairman. Construction began in January 1965 and ultimately cost over $46 million; the cost overrun was largely a result of the change in location. It was also required because it took 600 men six months to finish the interior. The completed centre contained an opera hall with the largest stage in Canada and the second largest stage in North America, a theatre, a studio, and a salon.

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