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Darke Hall (Regina)

Canada / Saskatchewan / Regina
 theatre, performing arts
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Darke Hall, adjacent to Regina College, was donated to the then-United Church college by Regina businessman Francis (Franklin) Nicholson Darke. He had been instrumental in persuading the Saskatchewan Conference of the Methodist Church to establish Regina College, in reaction to the failure to attract the University of Saskatchewan to Regina. He also provided a carillon of bells for Metropolitan Methodist Church.

Darke Hall opened on January 6, 1929, 'dedicated to music and arts and the enrichment of the lives of the people of the city'. It was for many years Regina’s principal concert hall and theatre, particularly after the destruction by fire in 1939 of the 800-seat Regina Theatre on the corner of 12th Avenue and Hamilton Street, and the demolition of Old City Hall in 1965, which had provided a multi-purpose space used for concerts, theatre, balls and indeed boxing.

Ambrose C. Froom donated a Casavant pipe organ, and Dr. Hugh MacLean donated a large art collection more recently housed in the Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery. In 1963 extra rehearsal, recording, storage, and dressing rooms were added, and in 1986-7 the basement and foundations were rebuilt.

Darke Hall has housed performances by Jorge Bolet, Marjorie Lawrence, Nino Martini, Nan Merriman, Jan Peerce, Teresa Stratas, Jean Watson, and Efrem Zimbalist, among others. It was the home of the the Regina Symphony Orchestra until 1970, when the Centre of the Arts was completed. It remains the recital and concert hall for the Regina Conservatory of Music and the University of Regina's Department of Music as well as the venue for amateur theatre and public lectures.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   50°26'23"N   104°36'44"W
This article was last modified 12 years ago