Martin Miller (right), executive director of TheatreSquared, and Robert Ford, artistic director, celebrate during a groundbreaking ceremony for the local theatre company’s new home in downtown Fayetteville.
Photo: Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer
TheatreSquared is over halfway home. Its new, permanent home, that is.
Officials with the local non-profit theatre company, along with a crowd of over 200 people, gathered Friday for a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of construction and the latest fundraising phase for the 50,000-square-foot performing arts center.
Martin Miller, executive director of TheatreSquared, said the group has secured $21 million of the $34 million needed to build the new facility planned at the southeast corner of West Avenue and Spring Street.
The new building will sit across the street from Nadine Baum Studios where TheatreSquared currently rents space, and one block south of the Walton Arts Center’s campus on Dickson Street.
Designed by Marvel Architects and Charcoalblue, the new venue will feature two performance stages, and will include rehearsal areas, costume and prop shops, dressing rooms, a green room, and administrative offices. Public common areas with educational and gathering spaces are also included in the plans.
TheatreSquared had sizable lead commitments coming into the groundbreaking, including $12.5 million from the Walton Family Foundation, $3.1 million from the Fayetteville City Council, and $3 million from the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission.
The City Council also granted a rent-free land lease to TheatreSquared for construction of the facility at the southeast corner of West Avenue and Spring Street.
Arkansas-based construction firm Baldwin & Shell will construct the facility, which is expected to be open in time for TheatreSquared’s 2019 season.
More photos
The crowd gathered at the site of the new performing arts center at the southeast corner of West Avenue and Spring Street.
Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer
Karen Minkel, home region program director of the Walton Family Foundation, speaks during the ceremony. The foundation has so far given $12.5 million to the project.
Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer
Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan speaks alongside Molly Rawn, executive director of the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission. Combined, the city and commission have committed $6.1 million toward TheatreSquared’s new facility.
Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer
Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer
Project renderings
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
Lobby and commons area
Mainstage
View from the Spring Street Parking Deck
