New roof for Living Arts Centre and other upgrades planned for Mississauga attraction

A new roof, a complete rebuild of the lobby concession area and various other upgrades are in the works for the Living Arts Centre, Mississauga’s largest arts and culture facility.

Much of the major and ongoing renovation work is scheduled to be completed throughout this year with additional upgrades to be budgeted for and started in 2025, officials with the quarter-century-old facility located in the city’s downtown core said this week.

“There are additional maintenance projects currently being considered for 2025 funding, but we do not have a budget or planned renovation for the full facility at this time,” Kristina Zietsma, the City of Mississauga’s director of recreation and culture, said in an email to insauga.com.

She added more information on work planned in 2025 and beyond at the LAC will be made available during budget updates to come in November.

Some work, though, has already been completed as officials used time during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the LAC was shut down to the public, to make initial repairs.

Three entrance vestibules to accessible sliding doors inside the LAC were replaced, officials said, at a cost of $780,000. The work began in July 2021 and was completed in May 2022, with the cost covered through the federal government’s Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.

The work included adding an air curtain to each vestibule, city officials said. An air curtain is a machine that blows a controlled stream of air across an opening to the other side to create an air seal, which separates different environments while allowing a smooth, uninterrupted flow of traffic and unobstructed vision through the opening.

In addition, $56,000 was spent on “maintenance and upgrades of  program equipment and theatre curtains completed in 2021,” officials said.

Currently, Zietsma noted, the LAC “has a number of lifecycle maintenance projects budgeted, planned and underway.”

Some of the work includes:

• refreshing of the Live Cuisine restaurant (design underway and work to be completed in 2024)
• full rebuild of the lobby concession stand (design underway and work to be completed in 2024)
• roof replacement (phase two work is in the design stages)
• bird deterrent for the front façade (work is in the planning phase)
• mechanical HVAC renewal (work is underway and to be completed in 2024)
• video, audio, lighting, orchestra lift system upgrades and replacements (work is underway and to be completed in 2024/2025)

The LAC opened in the City Centre area, next to Square One Shopping Centre and the Mississauga Civic Centre, in 1997. Officials say the facility welcomes some 400,000 annual visitors who come to watch operas, theatre, musical concerts and other performances.

It features three presentation-ready theatres, seven professional craft studios and an in-house restaurant.