An Ontario judge has granted a stay and continuation to prevent the demolition after a judicial review scheduled for Feb. 26 was unexpectedly adjourned

An Ontario judge has granted a continuation of a Niagara-on-the-Lake resident’s legal action to prevent Shaw Festival from demolishing the historic Royal George Theatre.

A judicial review had been scheduled Feb. 26 by teleconference, but was unexpectedly adjourned, said Eric Gillespie, who is representing Nicholas Colaneri and Centurion Building Corp.

Centurion Building Corp. launched legal action in early February against Shaw Festival to prevent the demolition of the Queen Street theatre, box office and two properties on Victoria Street.

The Victoria Street houses at 178 and 188 have since been razed.

Colaneri said the court has granted a stay and continuation of his initial legal challenge for another four weeks.

The demolition of the Royal George and the box office “is delayed” until a decision is made at the judicial review, said Colaneri.

A stay of proceedings is a court order that halts or suspends all or part of a legal action, while a “continuation” is a postponement of a specific court date or deadline.

Shaw Festival did not respond to a request for comment, but in a previous statement chief executive officer and executive director Tim Jennings said the company “followed or exceeded all of the town’s planning procedures” for its project to rebuild the theatre.

Colaneri’s legal action requests the court to review whether Niagara-on-the-Lake complied with its official plan, zoning bylaws, Ontario’s Planning Act, the Ontario Heritage Act and the provincial policy statement. It also requests the court declare the town acted unlawfully and unreasonably and pause the town’s planning approvals for the $80-million development while his application is decided.

Shaw Festival, Colaneri and the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake had initially agreed to a stay of the demolition of the theatre and box office until Feb. 27 to allow for the judicial review.

Jennings has said the “Shaw has been working under very tight timelines to meet the construction milestones required by our funding bodies and has already been delayed” when Colaneri appealed council’s decision to the Ontario Land Tribunal.

In an interview on Jan. 31, Jennings said the project was already about a month behind schedule.

By Kevin Werner for www.niagarathisweek.com.

Photo: Royal George Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake. © 2007 Howard Clarke.