Ensemble expansion will alter streetscape
BY JACKIE DEMALINE | JDEMALINE@ENQUIRER.COM
Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati will break ground this summer on an expansion of and renovations to its Over-the-Rhine headquarters for a complex that will include four properties in the 1100 block of Vine Street.
A $6.5 million capital campaign will begin after the Fine Arts Fund completes its fundraising drive in April. The two-year project will include a renovated performance space and seating, an outside courtyard, an on-site scene shop, office space, renovated box office and lobby space and a meeting room.
Producing artistic director Lynn Meyers says the three priorities are making needed repairs, audience services and expanding capacity without increasing the size of the theater.
Roof repairs have long been on the to-do list; the renovation will also provide a much-needed catwalk.
Theatergoers will find new, larger seats in the 190-seat theater. “That’s the biggest reason to change the (theater) house,” says Meyers. “To make it more comfortable. There will also be more handicapped seating and a less-steep incline.
With the scene shop, it’s expected that Ensemble can schedule productions for four weeks instead of its current three-week runs. The theater has an average attendance of 80 percent this season, with a 50 percent subscriber base. Meyers believes it’s past time to introduce new audiences to the theater.
The renovations will not interfere with the theater’s six-play subscription series.
The completed renovation is expected to debut with the opening of the 2010-11 season. Ensemble has been in its current location at 1127 Vine St. since 1988.
A snazzy renovated Ensemble should also be a focal point of the growing performing arts presence along 12th Street, with School for Creative and Performing Arts being built at Race, Know Theatre and Art Academy of Cincinnati at Jackson and New Stage Collective at Main.
GBBN’s Joe Power is lead architect for the project, which will have 200 feet of street frontage.
Ensemble’s capital campaign begins with $1.5 in pledges from the Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission, the City of Cincinnati, and board members.
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