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Hot opening for revamped West End Cultural Centre

By: Melissa Martin

Posted: 05/25/2009 9:08 PM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Patrons wait in the new concert hall for the first concert in the re-vamped West End Cultural Centre Monday. (PHIL.HOSSACK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

If you ignored the grey skies and penetrating damp, and focused entirely on what happened inside the walls of the West End Cultural Centre, then tonight felt more like Sunday: hot, hot, hot.

One year, $4 million, and 5,000 added square feet since the beloved Ellice Avenue venue closed its doors, tore out its guts, and started from scratch, the WECC celebrated its grand public re-opening with a sold-out concert featuring alt-pop icon Hawksley Workman.

Before doors opened at 7:15 p.m., eager fans stretched round the block, peering in through the new full-length windows that dot the former church’s Sherbrook Street wall.

The wonders didn’t cease once inside. The most, ahem, instantly palatable was the WECC Celebration Ale, a special beer bubbled up for the occasion by local microbrewery Half Pints.

Brewery founder David Rudge used to play punk rock shows at the WECC, and crafted a hibiscus-infused pale ale to toast its return. "The foam is nice and pink, with a floral character to the taste," said Half Pints rep Jeremy Wells. "We like to have fun making beers."

Before local singer-songwriter Greg MacPherson began his set, fans congregated in the venue’s new lobby to sip pinkish beer and swap first impressions. "There used to be a wall here!" cooed one fan, waving her hand around the airy new entrance.

"The bathrooms! There are so many more bathroom stalls!" exclaimed Hawksley fan Libby Jeffrey, 20, reminiscing over the infamously awkward two-stall biffies that flanked the old WECC stage. (The new women’s loos feature seven stalls and marble countertops, and are nowhere near the spotlight.)

Though the building was a solid opener, the star of the show was undoubtedly Workman. The Ontarian songwriter graduated from the WECC to the Burton Cummings Theatre over five years ago, but came back to salute the reopening.

Though the renovations increased the WECC’s seating capacity to 398 from 311, the entirely new Ventura Concert Hall was still a remarkably small space to see the star.

"Not having anything to compare it to, it feels so intimate," said Red River student Dave Turnbull, 19, who hadn’t been to the WECC before the renovations. "I’ve seen Hawksley at the (Burton Cummings Theatre), but this is so different, so much cosier."

Before opening the night’s festivities, WECC artistic director Dom Lloyd paid tribute to some of the venue’s donors, including Cliff Penner of top sponsor Ventura Custom Homes, who was in the audience. He also encouraged fans to pick up the $2 program book detailing the WECC’s history.

"I just think people should know... this building is not only made with love, it’s made with recycled bits everywhere," Lloyd said. He wasn’t joking: the balcony seats were salvaged from the Epic Theatre on Main Street, the lobby’s glass partition came from a courthouse in Calgary, and old boxcar floors were reshaped into green room cabinetry.

"It’s beautiful," said Aaron Brown, who has volunteered at the WECC since 1992, noting that the attitude amongst the returning volunteers was "very upbeat, a lot of positive energy. To see it all come together like this is amazing. It’s new, but it still feels like the same old West End Cultural Centre."

The West End Cultural Centre re-opening festivities continue tonight, with a concert by Canadian chanteuse Sarah Slean, and run all week. For more info, check out WECC.ca.

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