Arena Stage in Southwest Washington will get a $120 million makeover and become a centerpiece of the Anacostia Waterfront revitalization project, theater officials announced Wednesday.
The renovated theater, funded in large part by high-profile local philanthropists Gilbert and Jaylee Mead, will include a new stage, artist apartments, workspaces, a cafe, underground parking and renovated bathrooms. The 250,000-square-foot complex is scheduled to be completed sometime in 2009 or 2010 — a timeframe that is in line with several other revitalization projects in the neighborhood, such as the 2.5 million-square-foot mixed-use development near the Waterfront Metro stop that was announced earlier this week.
“Arena Stage continues to be the indispensable anchor of the District’s efforts to redevelop the Southwest Waterfront,” said Councilwoman Sharon Ambrose, Ward 6, who was vocal in securing District funding for the project. “Once completed, Arena’s new theater complex will immediately become a signature piece of waterfront architecture.”
Arena Stage has so far raised $100 million of the $120 million needed to complete the project. Much of that came from private donations in the multimillion-dollar range, including $35 million from the Meads and $23 million from Arena Stage trustees. But the District government also contributed $30.7 million to the project. The theater will look to the public to raise the remainder of the funds, said a spokesman for Arena Stage.
Arena Stage is considered one of the country’s most successful regional theaters. It was the first regional theater to send a production to Broadway in 1967 and won the first Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater in 1976.
The renovation “moves Arena Stage one step closer to becoming the national center for the development of new American work,” said John M. Derrick Jr., president of the Arena Stage Board of Trustees.
When unveiled, the new complex will be renamed Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater.
Designed by Canadian firm Bing Thom Architects, Arena Stage is currently accepting bids for contractors and hopes to break ground in 2007.
