Description of Historic Place

The Royal Theatre is a large, brick-faced theatre building occupying most of its urban lot in downtown Victoria.

Heritage Value

Royal Theatre National Historic Site was commemorated as a building of both historic and architectural significance because it is one of the finest surviving large-scale legitimate theatres in Canada.

The heritage value of the Royal Theatre is illustrated by the building itself, its monumentality and grandeur of surviving fabric. Built as The Royal Victoria Theatre in 1912-13 by the Victoria Opera House Company (William D'Olyly Rochfort and Eben W. Sankey, architects), this theatre was a venue for live dramatic, musical and vaudeville performances. Famous Players acquired the building in 1930, changed its name to the Royal Theatre, and established its primary use as a movie theatre. The Royal Theatre was restored as a live theatre in 1972.

Sources:
HSMBC Minutes, June 1987, November 1989, February 1990, July 1998; Commemorative Integrity Statement.

Character-Defining Elements

Aspects of this site which contribute to its heritage values include:
- the box-like, five-storey massing,
- the symmetrical organization of the facade,
- the division of the facade into three, horizontal zones, including a terracotta-faced lower zone, large, fenestrated middle zone, and attic zone with decorative cornice,
- the surviving classically inspired, exterior detailing including the arched entry, terracotta window surrounds, some with balustraded balconies, bas-relief panels and friezes, cornice and balustrade,
- exterior facing material on the facade, including ground floor terracotta facing laid to resemble stone, the polychrome and banded, diamond-patterned brickwork, and the terracotta cornice,
- the interior layout, defined as a sequence of spaces from the central Broughton Street entrance to the auditorium,
- the grand interior volumes, particularly the auditorium with its cantilevered balcony and proscenium arch,
- the ornate, classically-inspired interior detailing, particularly of the auditorium with its proscenium, pedimented doorway surrounds, the ceiling mouldings, swagged cartouches, rosettes and sculptures,
- the prominent siting of the building on the corner of the intersection of Broughton and Blanshard Streets.