A reimagined Center for the Arts

It’s blue, it’s copper and it’s green

By Kendra Walker

The outside façade has become a familiar centerpiece along Sixth Street in Crested Butte—bluebird-sky walls, gleaming copper nodding to our town’s mining history, with the roofline emulating the silhouette of Paradise Divide in the distance. With signs of construction finally dwindling and finishing touches nearing an end, the inside facilities now await the community to fill it with music, art, dance and life.

The long-anticipated, reimagined Center for the Arts building is here and ready for Crested Butte.

“We’ve come a long way,” says Joel Benisch, Center for the Arts board president, who remembers how the property used to be a county maintenance garage before the original 6,000-square-foot Center was built in 1986/87. “I’m excited about the capabilities of the building and what the infrastructure provides for the community,” he said. “Now all of the programs of the Center have come together under one new roof.

“Come take advantage of it,” Benisch encourages. “We’re here, we’re ready.”

Upgraded rooms and facilities

The three-story, 31,000-square-foot Center feels even bigger once you step inside, with its open glass atrium spilling in natural light that bounces off the copper walls. The building is full of gallery spaces and performance rooms, with a visual arts classroom and mixed use/multipurpose areas, which can be rented out for classes, events, weddings, gatherings, etc.

The main bar area is large enough to rival Elk Avenue favorites, complete with a massive “jumbotron” screen designed to simulcast the show going on inside the theater, or broadcast films and television events.

The Center has a new bus pull-off incorporated into the Sixth Street entry directly across from Whiterock Avenue, which also serves as patron drop-off and will accommodate four handicap-accessible parking spaces. During events when higher traffic is expected, Mountain Express will add this stop to the bus route. Behind the original theater, a new concrete loading pad will allow for artists’ buses and trucks to easily access the backstage area.

On the third floor, the Comiskey outdoor terrace overlooks Pitsker Field, the north and west views of our valley and, according to Crested Butte mayor Jim Schmidt, will be the best spot in town for viewing the 4th of July fireworks.

Steddy Theater

The Steddy Theater is really the crown jewel of the whole operation. With flexible floor space and multiple seating configurations, the theater has the ability to mold and adapt depending on the type of performance. The stage meets performance standards for a full symphony orchestra, and when needed, a section of the dance floor directly in front of the stage area can be lowered four feet, revealing an orchestra pit that can also serve as a dance pit.

The acoustics of the theater allow for a very “tunable venue,” says Center marketing director Scott Clarkson. Sound proofing, irregular wall angles and curtain configurations along the walls and windows in the theater allow for individual sound control depending on the performance. If you find yourself wondering about the strength of that last drink order: the walls are actually slanted three degrees, for improved acoustics.

The mechanical systems were engineered and designed so guests won’t hear internal sounds, airflow or vibration throughout the building, especially in performance spaces. The Steddy Theater itself is actually its own building, separated by a mere three-inch gap with an entirely exclusive foundation for optimal sound quality.

According to Clarkson, the theater has capacity for 450 people (which assumes some standing capacity), more than doubling the overall capacity of the old Center’s theater, with 40 percent more seating at the maximum seating configuration (216 seats in the old theater). On the main, general admission level, stadium seating can retract in and out of the rear wall onto the dance floor. The theater also has balcony seating. Additional side gallery seats in the balcony will be the premium seats for optimal viewing, closest to the stage, says Clarkson.

Tiered ticketing of two or three different price levels will be another updated feature for the Center, he says, as folks in the balcony will have access to a second bar and bathrooms on their level. At this time, seats are being sold as general admission by section and the future plan is to sell individual seating by section.

The seats themselves are still in progress, as staff awaits the custom chairs from Belgium, which needed replacement after the original custom chairs were destroyed in an overseas factory fire in June. “The seating is the biggest thing,” said Benisch of the final setup. “Our hope is that the custom seats get here in January and installation can align in-between scheduled shows.” He explained that employees from the Belgian factory where the seats were constructed will travel to Crested Butte to install the mechanized seats. The plan is to have the seats in place sometime in February.

The Steddy Theater is named for Stanley and Theodora “Teddy” Feldberg, whose family foundation funded the theater.

Backstage

If you have a chance to go behind the scenes of the theater, you’ll find all the features a stage tech crew could want—catwalk ramps along the ceiling for adjusting lights, upstairs sound and lighting rooms complete with a new spotlight and 25 line sets as part of a counterweighted rigging system that controls the curtain and set backdrops. And the elevator is large enough to transport a grand piano.

Most performance spaces, backstage areas and dressing rooms each have a screen monitor and intercom system so performers can easily watch and listen for cues from on stage. The green room has a shower, kitchenette and laundry machines for traveling artists. “We hope artists will want to come back here,” says Benisch on the backstage amenities. He also stressed that it will help prepare local artists for professional venues outside of the valley, especially those younger performers. “Kids will have a sense for the big time after utilizing this space,” he said.

Going green

The new building is LEED certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), a recognition of sustainability achievement that follows framework for healthy, highly efficient and cost-saving green buildings. Thermostat nodes installed in the Center’s walls can sense the number of people in the rooms and adjust the temperature accordingly. The building is equipped with 13 massive air circulators that draw in clean, cool, low-humidity air to heat or cool the building rather than the traditional compressed air boiler system.

Bathrooms are outfitted with low-flow faucets and filtered water fountains are throughout the building. Staff also plans to continue its reusable cups program from this summer’s Alpenglow concert series, where guests can purchase a reusable cup and get $1 off each drink following when using the cup.

Donors and the community

The building was a community effort—designed, built and decorated mainly by local businesses, artists and workers in the valley. According to Clarkson, the $19 million project employed 80 percent to 85 percent local subcontractors over the course of the Center’s construction.

Donations and sponsors fund 50 percent of the Center’s year-round operations. The remaining 50 percent of revenues are from program fees and event ticket sales.

Each room and multipurpose space is named for individual donors, and donors who have contributed more than $10,000 to the capital campaign for the new building will be recognized on the Donor Wall located on the second floor just outside the Steddy Theater. The wall itself is a work of art by local artist and Oh Be Joyful gallery owner Nicholas Reti, commissioned through the Creative District.

The Center has already hosted a number of events in the new building since its soft opening in July, and staff plans to move into their new office space by the end of the month.

Coming up, Leftover Salmon celebrates its 30th anniversary with concerts on December 27-28. The Center’s dedicated gallery space, the Kinder Paden Gallery, will feature the work of Western Colorado University graduate Richard Buchanan through January 6. Visit www.crestedbuttearts.org for more information.

The Center will also be offering free tours of the new building beginning December 26, on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4 p.m. Those interested in a tour can contact the Center at (970) 349-7487, ext. 1, email at info@crestedbuttearts.org or just stop by 15 minutes prior and join a tour.