A MOST ENCHANTING VENUE

The Elgin and Winter Garden is like no other theatre in Canada. Under the guidance of the Ontario Heritage Trust, these two unique theatres received an important facelift and backstage addition.

Of most interest is that over 300,000 sheets of wafer-thin aluminum leaf were used in re-gilding the Elgin. Hundreds of pounds of raw bread dough were used to clean 20,000 square feet of hand-painted walls in the Winter Garden with its marvelous leafy ceiling.

The Elgin was the venue that hosted the celebrated 1985 Canadian production of Cats for a two-year run. This production is often credited for having given the start to Canada's professional musical theatre industry. Recently, JOEL Rigging installed 11 line-sets with Echelon JZF-1500 Winches controlled by Niscon to supplement the rigging in the Winter Garden. Structural steel was added to adapt the building to these new requirements and the legacy rigging equipment was removed.

In the Elgin Theatre below, JOEL Rigging installed a new fire curtain motor. This important life safety equipment was complimented by the addition of fall protection systems, fall arrest equipment and tie-off structure and code compliant handrails.