Planned and originally funded to commemorate the Canadian centennial in 1967, its construction was interrupted by a substantial increase in cost and after the steel frame was put up the project did not proceed further for almost two years.

A substantial reduction in the nature of many intended building materials permitted the project to resume and after the long delay the Centre of the Arts was opened by Governor General Roland Michener on August 24, 1970 at a cost of $7.7 million to serve southern Saskatchewan as a centre for performing arts and exhibitions as well as university functions including graduation ceremonies of by the adjacent University of Regina.

Main Theatre, with three balconies, has a large stage whose front lowers hydraulically to form an orchestra pit for 100 musicians.

From the time it first opened the Centre of the Arts accommodated world-renowned travelling performers — as diverse as Monty Python's Flying Circus and Van Cliburn among many others in its first years — who might have been thought unlikely to visit a small city far from metropolises.

As well as serving as theatre and concert hall for both local and travelling performers and graduation ceremonies of the immediately adjacent University of Regina, it has often been used as a private facility for social functions such as wedding receptions.