Malkin Bowl gets year- round treatment

Renovated space to be used by Theatre Under The Stars, other groups

Stanley Park’s Malkin Bowl has been transformed into a usable year- round space as a result of nearly completed renovations to the 78- year- old theatre.

The renovations will mean better security and a warm, dry space for winter rehearsals, said James Cronk, managing producer for Theatre Under the Stars, which has used the venue for summer productions since 1940.

“There’s a shortage of rehearsal space in Vancouver,” Cronk said, noting that the revitalized venue will provide extra space for groups during the winter months, and the renovations will waterproof and help protect the theatre from the elements year- round.

The $ 300,000 renovation to the covered stage includes a new door system to enclose the theatre, as well as heating upgrades and improvements to the change rooms, the stage floor, lighting and better insulation throughout, said Joyce Courtney, a spokeswoman for the Vancouver park board.

The recently installed sliding 13- by- seven- metre door is made up of steel cores to withstand heavy winds and has windows at the top of each panel to let in natural light.

“Malkin Bowl was used only four or five months of the year,” said Sandra Moore, of Birmingham and Wood: Architects + Planners, which was commissioned by the park board to renovate the band shell.

“It had always been a cumbersome and expensive process to open and then board up between engagements,” she said.

Vancouver park board chairwoman Constance Barnes said: “As stewards of this amazing and long- standing facility, we’ve made Malkin Bowl a yearround event centre, rehearsal hall and concert space.

“Whether it is an orchestra rehearsing in January, a private event in April or Theatre Under The Stars in July, these changes have allowed for better use of a valuable and precious asset.”

Money for the project came from a 2009 federal grant that included $ 4.5 million for infrastructure upgrades around Stanley Park, Courtney said.