Auburn_Musical_Theater

Musical Theater Festival Agreement Moves Forward

More plans are falling into place for the use of a performing arts center project in downtown Auburn. According to an announcement released by Cayuga Community College, the college and organizers of an annual musical theater festival have reached a 25-year agreement to share the 384-seat theater on State Street.

Under the agreement, the school will use the facility from September through the middle of May for acting and technical courses. The building will then become one of the multiple festival venues during the summer.

However, CCC will still have a presence during the festival season, as the festival will offer internships for students in areas like performance, design, lighting, management, marketing and other operations.

“This community partnership will help attract (theater) students through expanded learning and production opportunities, while our entire region becomes a cultural destination for high-quality shows ranging from experimental to classic,” college president Daniel Larson said in a written statement.

Earlier, the Cayuga County Legislature approved a resolution authorizing the purchase of the State Street building that formerly housed Kalet’s department store. The property currently belongs to the city of Auburn, and the city plans to demolish the building in the spring before transferring the property to the county. That transfer must take place for the college to build the theater.

Half of the $4.8 million project will be funded by the state, with the remaining funds coming from the festival organizers and investors. The City agreed to pay for the demolition, with local foundations paying back half those costs.

The festival is expected to begin spring 2012, though the theater will not host a festival show until the second season, organizers have said. CCC officials said that construction is expected to take approximately a year once demolition is completed, depending on weather, with a goal of opening the facility for the fall 2012 semester.

The theater is expected to be one of four venues for the festival, which organizers say will offer multiple musical theater productions every year. The other venues include the 500-seat Merry-Go-Round Playhouse at Emerson Park, the 200-seat Auburn Public Theater on Genesee Street and the 115-seat carriage house theater located at the Cayuga Museum.

—Staff writer Christopher Caskey, The Citizen

Both the City Council and the Cayuga County Legislature committed at separate meetings to a partnership that would support plans for a 300-seat theater to be built in the center of Auburn’s “creative corridor” on State Street.

City councilors unanimously approved selling the vacant Kalet’s department store building, where the proposed theater site will be developed, to the county. In turn, county lawmakers agreed to negotiate buying the building from the city.

Once the sale goes through, plans call for the county to lease the space to Cayuga Community College, which in turn will level the building and construct the theater for the proposed summer festival. The event would run for 10 to 12 weeks in the summer, and is expected to start in 2011.

CCC’s board of trustees passed a resolution that approved the development of a downtown theater at their mid December meeting. The college also plans to use the facility to train students who want to be theater professionals. “To have a 21st century state-of-the-art theater is a tremendous asset,” college President Daniel Larson said.

Both the college and the group organizing the festival need to secure half the cost to move forward with the project. The estimated amount is approximately $4.8 million. No local tax dollars are to be expended, government officials said. CCC will try and secure their $2.4 million from SUNY, yet the funding is not yet guaranteed by the state. CCC President Daniel Larson said, “I have a positive outlook in terms of the musical theater festival being able to secure these funds.”

There is a process by which capital projects are moved into the state budget. The initial draft of the state budget was released in mid January, and the line item remained. The final target budget approval date is hoped for in April 2010.

Should CCC get the funding, after demolition, construction could start in the fall with the theater having a target completion date of summer 2011, said Larson.

Larson said the proposed theater would be utilized by CCC in the musical theater festival’s off-season, September through May. College classes, workshops, performances and technical training would take place there. The musical theater festival would utilize the space during June, through August. Further details on its use and management still need to be worked out, Larson said.

“Holiday at The Inn”  A Musical Dinner Show Springside Inn Auburn, NY
Please join us on Saturday, November 29, 2008 at Springside Inn as we get ready to ring in the holiday season. “Holiday at The Inn” will be a musical extravaganza, you wont want to miss.

Gather your friends and enjoy an evening of holiday classics with Bob Piorun, Julie Howard, Connie Patti, Thames Nolan, Robert Dickson and Lyman Strong. This unique group will be singing all your favorite holiday classics as well as music from Bob Pioruns upcoming Christmas CD.

Call us at 315-252-7247 to reserve your seat. Tickets are $49.00 per person for dinner and the show (this includes tax and gratuity).

Springside Inn also offers many options for your holiday parties. Whether its a small private gathering or a catered event, we can accommodate any size group.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,
The Lattimores
Springside Inn  
 
email: sales@springsideinn.com
voice: 315-252-7247
web: http://www.springsideinn.com