Replacement of the ceiling canopy in Toronto’s Winter Garden Theatre (2017)

In the early 1980s, during the Winter Garden Theatre’s initial restoration, actual foliage and branches were painted and then sprayed with fireproofing chemicals. Over the years, further treatments were applied but, over time, that made the leaves and branches fragile. They also lost their colour. The repositioning and adjusting of the theatre’s lighting equipment, too, contributed to this condition.

In 2017, with financial assistance from donors and Parks Canada’s National Cost-Sharing Program for Heritage Places, the Trust undertook a restoration project to recreate the leaf ceiling by replacing the original foliage with artificial, fire-retardant materials that resembled the original beech foliage used for the canopy.

While the Trust was unable to source a single company that could provide the coverage needed for the Winter Garden, they were able to secure quantities of materials from three different companies – from San Diego, California, Cleveland, Ohio and London, England – to replicate the look and feel of the original foliage.

With scaffolding assembled throughout the theatre, the former ceiling canopy was carefully removed. It was also decided to replace all house lights in the theatre to ensure a consistent quality of light and colour temperature throughout the auditorium. The theatre’s heat detection devices, too, were replaced at this time.

Once the work was completed, not only had the Trust completed a project that vastly improved the theatre’s fire resiliency, but it also created a bright and long-lasting ceiling of now-artificial foliage that will serve the needs of the theatre for years to come.