Werklund Centre unveils name for new ethical gathering place in downtown Calgary

The Werklund Centre has officially unveiled the name of the main gathering space inside its multi‑year expansion project, announcing the BMO Lodge, a central hub that will sit between the new 1,000‑seat Osten‑Victor Playhouse and a yet‑to‑be‑named 200‑seat studio.

The naming follows a $2‑million commitment from BMO, supporting what is now the largest arts‑focused infrastructure project underway in Canada. The space itself has been designed from the ground up with Indigenous principles in mind, shaped through months of work with Treaty 7 Elders and knowledge keepers.

Werklund Centre CEO Alex Sarian says that guidance influenced everything about the architecture.

“We had worked with the designers on making sure that it was influenced by lodge types, and we had studied teepees and the geometries and which way should we be facing the sun, all these beautiful things that went into the design of the architecture that are manifested in this lodge,” he explained.

As part of the announcement, the centre held a private pipe ceremony, smudging ceremony, and round dance, led by Blackfoot Elders Reg and Rose Crowshoe, who have been closely involved throughout the project.

The BMO Lodge is designed as public space open whether or not someone has a ticket.

Sarian says that was intentional, part of a shift toward treating the centre as a campus instead of a traditional theatre complex.

“Traditionally, you have a ticket and you have a cultural experience within a theater and your ticket is scanned, and that’s great, and we will continue doing that. But the idea of being a campus means that people can gather in many different ways and on their terms, and not just when the ticket says that the curtain’s gonna rise at 7:30 on a Wednesday,” he explained.

“We’re rethinking the role of these gathering spaces, we wanted to make sure that we were sort of imbuing them with this power.”

He says the real test of the lodge will come once the public takes ownership of it.

“That’s what’s exciting and nerve wracking about having a space like this is that it’s not about us and it’s not about what we wanna do with it, it’s about what community wants to do with it,” Sarian added. “And we’re building it in such a way that allows for that flexibility, that allows for that sort of unstructured access to it.”

Sarian also notes the centre sits directly beside Olympic Plaza, long used as a gathering place for unhoused Calgarians.

“We wanna be open to everybody,” he said. “And I think thinking of the lodge as an extension of the plaza in terms of its philosophy to access is going to be amazing.”

He says the Werklund Centre plans to approach this collaboratively as needed, with a potential for working closely with neighbours like the Calgary Public Library.

“How does Werklund Centre sit down with the library and say, ‘OK, what are you offering? What should we be offering?’ And how do we support this community together?

“I think it’s a shared responsibility to the citizens of Calgary, regardless of their situation.”

The Werklund Centre Transformation — formerly Arts Commons — is now entering its second year of construction.

Phase One is expected to wrap in 2028, adding more than 170,000 square feet of new cultural space to the downtown core.