An artist’s rendering shows what the new TheatreSquared building could look like at the corner of Spring and West streets in downtown Fayetteville.
Renderings by Kilograph / Courtesy TheatreSquared
TheatreSquared’s vision of having a permanent, state-of-the-art theater in downtown Fayetteville is becoming a reality.
Officials on Thursday unveiled artist’s renderings of the design for T2’s new home at the southeast corner of West Avenue and Spring Street across from the Spring Street Parking Deck.
The 50,000-square-foot, multi-story building, designed by internationally renowned and award-winning firm Marvel Architects and consultants CharcoalBlue, will include two performance stages, a rehearsal space, a scene shop, costume shop, props room, dressing rooms, a green room, and an upper-level administrative office area.
Lobby and commons area
As promised, the building includes common areas designed to invite the community inside with educational and gathering spaces for audience members, guest artists, or anyone who just wants to hang out and grab a coffee, a small plate of food, or a cocktail.
Far from hidden, officials said the artistic spaces will actually project from the facade. The studio, rehearsal space, and mainstage are designed to be plainly visible from the street.
The project will be built with sustainability in mind, by utilizing repurposed building materials, all-LED lights, furniture milled from trees on site, and the construction of an artist’s patio made from reclaimed brick from a 150-year-old structure that once stood near the old Fayetteville Depot.
Mainstage
The intimacy that T2 audiences have grown to love in the company’s current venue will not be lost. In fact, officials said the new mainstage, while adding about 100 balcony seats, may feel even more intimate for some due to the design of the space.
The front row has been moved even closer to the stage, while the back seating row is just one row deeper than the current venue.
“I’m proud to say that this is one of the most intimate, yet immersive theatre spaces Charcoalblue has yet designed,” said Clem Abercrombie, senior project manager for Charcoalblue.
City Council members in June voted to approve a longterm land lease agreement with T2, clearing the way for construction of the new theater on the 54-space, city-owned parking lot at West and Spring.
View from the Spring Street Parking Deck
The 25-year lease can be renewed up to three times, and does not include any rental fees for use of the land. Instead, T2 will be required to provide “highly professional performances” that, at a minimum meet “the quantity and quality of those performed over the past year.”
The project will break ground in June 2017, and is expected to be completed in time for the 2019-20 season.
For more details about the new theater, visit ournextstage.org.
