Young Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto

Close to the northeastern corner of Toronto’s historic Distillery District, near Mill and Cherry streets, watch on your left for the long red-brick industrial façade with “Young Centre for the Performing Arts” written prominently above the covered walkway. This is the main entrance to the centre, situated at 50 Tank House Lane.

Before going inside, take a moment to examine the exterior. The centre incorporates Tank Houses 9 and 10, built for the Gooderham & Worts Distillery in the late 19th century to provide additional storage after Canadian law required whisky to be aged for at least two years. Both were designed by David Roberts Jr., responsible for many buildings in the distillery complex. A heritage plaque at the site identifies the former tank houses. Today, however, they function as a single complex and are not prominently presented to visitors as two separate buildings.

Go through the main doors, and you enter the Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Atrium, the easiest part of the conversion to appreciate even before a performance. Stop near the centre and look upward. The high windows and large Douglas-fir roof structure span what was originally the open space between the two tank houses. Now, turn toward either side: the exposed brick walls and old green-painted windows belong to the original industrial buildings and were deliberately preserved during redevelopment.

From the atrium, follow the clearly marked signs to the individual performance spaces. The Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre is the largest, with a flexible layout that can be changed from a thrust stage to an arena or traditional proscenium arrangement. The Michael Young Theatre is a smaller black-box theatre whose seating and stage can be rearranged for different productions. The Weyni Mengesha Theatre is the most intimate of the principal theatres, accommodating up to about 100 spectators.

Also look for the Kevin and Roger Garland Cabaret, an approximately 80-seat multipurpose room used for performances, classes, receptions, and post-show events.

The Young Centre opened in 2006 after the former industrial buildings were transformed into a shared performing-arts and educational facility for Soulpepper Theatre Company and George Brown College’s Theatre School. Even without seeing a production, the atrium is worth examining for the contrast between Victorian brickwork and the modern timber, steel, and glass additions. If possible, however, time your visit with a performance-the theatres themselves are where this former whisky-storage complex fully reveals its new purpose.