| NEW HAVEN, CT (January 20, 2007) - Long Wharf Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Joan Channick, announces extensive progress towards moving into the footprint of the former New Haven Coliseum.
"The long-awaited demolition of the Coliseum literally clears the way for Long Wharf Theatre to move forward with our plans to build a new theatre on the site," said Channick.
"Because considerable time has elapsed since the idea of Long Wharf Theatre's move downtown first arose, our plans and research are now out of date and we are revisiting our assumptions.
"We are in the midst of new studies that will define the space needs for our future performance, production, and administrative facilities; re-calculate the costs of building and operating a new facility; and help us understand our audience's needs, including parking.
"We are excited about the prospect of being part of the city's vibrant Ninth Square neighborhood and, with the ground cleared, the enormous possibilities for the development of the site will be evident to everyone. We're anxious to move forward and build a theatre that deepens our role in this community, maintains our unique character, and honors Long Wharf Theatre's legacy."
Long Wharf Theatre has commissioned New York-based theatre consultants Sachs Morgan Studio to assess the facility needs of Long Wharf Theatre's new building project.
Long Wharf Theatre has also commissioned the Hamden, CT, office of Vollmer Associates, LLP to conduct the theatre's own parking study, as well as Fairfield, CT based WolfBrown & Associates to complete an extensive market research study.
LONG WHARF THEATRE'S
PLANNING PHASE NEARLY COMPLETE
The Building Program conducted by Sachs Morgan Studio is currently under way, and is estimated to be completed by spring 2007. Sachs Morgan Studio will work closely with the Long Wharf Theatre's Board of Directors and staff to define its building program.
Specifically, Sachs Morgan Studio will develop square footage requirements, necessary room adjacencies and update estimates of both capital and operational costs.
The goal of the Building Program will be to reassess the facility needs of the institution originally done in 2000 by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates, as well as provide construction cost estimations and develop an operational plan for a proposed new facility.
The Parking Study conducted by Vollmer Associates, LLP is also expected to be completed by early spring 2007, and remains one of the most crucial elements in Long Wharf Theatre's planning phase.
Vollmer Associates is examining New Haven's current parking situation, the city's plans for growth and Long Wharf Theatre's projected parking needs as it moves downtown.
Parking is the one of biggest concerns facing Long Wharf Theatre audiences and the study will provide invaluable information regarding such elements as safety, availability and location.
In addition to the Building Program and Parking Study, an extensive market research study conducted by WolfBrown & Associates is in its final phase. With the majority of the research already completed, WolfBrown & Associates will finish their public value audit for Long Wharf Theatre by early spring 2007.
The final component in Long Wharf Theatre's planning phase will be to update the fundraising feasibility study originally completed by Ketchum, Inc. The new study, which is expected to be completed by the end of summer 2007, is designed to evaluate fundraising opportunities within the current economic climate as Long Wharf Theatre looks to begin its capital campaign.
ABOUT SACHS MORGAN STUDIO
Sachs Morgan Studio, Theatre Design Specialists, provides comprehensive theatre planning and design services to the performing arts community nationwide.
Studio projects range from Broadway to Hollywood, from Disney to the Kennedy Center, and just about everything in between.
The firm has one foot in the theatre and one foot in architecture, and is nationally recognized for designing theatres that work for their owners, their patrons, and the theatre professionals that use them.
Ann Sachs and Roger Morgan began their careers in resident theatres when it was still referred to as "winter stock."
The first Studio project 30 years ago was Center Stage in Baltimore, followed by Rochester's Geva Theatre and Syracuse Stage in Syracuse, NY. The design of these theatres established the modified thrust form, now an industry standard.
Sachs Morgan Studio provides expertise in a wide range of services as represented by the following: theatre technology, as in the expanded stagehouse design of the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco which can now accommodate Broadway mega-musicals; interior design and architectural lighting including the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington, D.C., the glamorous Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, and the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in New York City (newly re-named The Hilton Theatre).
Space planning and seating geometry are exemplified in the five theatres of New World Stages complex in midtown Manhattan; the 300-seat theatre in Smithsonian's prestigious National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.
The Studio is currently working on the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theatre, and an upgrade of the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.
ABOUT VOLLMER ASSOCIATES, LLP
Vollmer Associates, LLP has been providing engineering, architecture, landscape architecture, planning and survey services to public and private clients since it founding in 1959.
With a professional staff of more than 650 employees, the firm provides clients a full range of services from 23 offices throughout the Eastern seaboard. Albany staff is comprised of more than 45 professionals and the office offers all of the services locally. The Albany Office opened in 1982 and the local architecture practice in 1990.
Vollmer's multi-disciplinary approach to projects enables them to deliver comprehensive services for today's multifaceted projects. Because their engineers, planners and architects work collectively, they have the ability to take a job from conceptual planning and feasibility studies through preliminary and final design to construction support and inspection.
Additionally, their staff brings exceptional expertise to assignments, with project managers averaging over 10 years of experience with the firm.
Managed by a partnership, the firm is committed to providing quality services, to designing projects with an expertise and sensitivity that balances function with aesthetics and to providing partner-level involvement and management in all projects.
This commitment affords a consistency of approach and a rigidly monitored Quality Assurance/ Quality Control Program for all projects. In addition, their management philosophy encourages an open exchange of ideas between project staff and the clients and communities we serve. |
