The Manitoba Centennial Concert Hall has been the home to Manitoba's 'Big Arts' since it opened in March 1968 replacing the 800 seat concert hall in the Winnipeg Auditorium (now Manitoba Archives) building on Vaughan Street.

Canada's Centennial was a time to think big. Not just celebratory events, such as Expo '67, but for lasting "legacy projects" built from coast to coast. Manitoba, it turns out, would have two centennials in a short period, with the province's in 1970 which allowed planners to think even bigger.

In 1960 a plan was formalized to construct an entire arts district on a five acre site across from the new Civic Centre as a way to “commemorate Canada’s centenary and initiate a broad scheme of urban renewal in Winnipeg’s Point Douglas Area” (source - accessed 2008). It would eventually include a concert hall, museum, planetarium, theatre centre and parking complex.

The scheme was not without controversy, though. The scale of the project was daunting: tens of millions of dollars; five years of construction and the demolition of four square blocks. The assumption that the Main Street area around the project would be automatically rejuvenated was seen by some as wishful thinking.

In 1963 a Manitoba Centennial Corporation board, chaired by Maitland B. Steinkopf, was chosen to oversee the planning, construction and fundraising.

The Concert Hall was to open in December 1967, Canada's Centennial year, but delays pushed that back to March 27, 1968. That day, Governor General Roland Michener cut the ribbon at an opening reception.

The following night the first concert was held. In attendance were dignitaries Governor-General Roland Michener and Mrs. Michener, Lieutenant-Governor Richard S. Bowles and Mrs. Bowles, Premier Walter Weir, Secretary of State Judy La Marsh and Maitland B. Steinkopf, chairman of the Manitoba Centennial Corporation and 2,000 others. It featured performances by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Manitoba Theatre Centre and Royal Winnipeg Ballet.