Just My Opinion: Renovating a historic theater – more than two decades later

As I sat in the newly renovated New Amsterdam Theater on Broadway some years ago, I could not help but marvel at how this renovation recaptured a golden era, and its importance to the economic revival of New York City’s Broadway district.

It was, perhaps, the showpiece of the district’s revitalization, a Disney project to restore Broadway’s oldest theater, built in 2002-2003.

We were there, members of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, as state and local government, and theater dignitaries celebrated the district’s revitalization.

This year, in downtown Newport, we recognize the 25^th year since planning began to revitalize the former Opera House, and 23 years since the Newport Performing Arts Center bought the building.

This is an endeavor that has struggled to raise the necessary funds to complete the project, now stalled as the current board attempts to raise the millions still needed to re-start the renovation project. They are keeping up with maintenance through an annual fundraising campaign that raises more than $125,000. Those funds also support a general manager and fundraising consultant.

They are also amid a capital campaign that theater officials suggest has pledges of $5 million, with a goal of reaching $23 million by year’s end. That $23 million is consistent with projections earlier this year that the project will cost between $23 million and $26 million to complete. Meanwhile, through these twenty plus years, theater officials say nearly $8 million has been spent on “critical structural work.”

We hear frustration from some in the community, questioning when the project will be completed. There have been promises of reopening that have come and gone, and we have seen projected costs escalate by many millions of dollars.

So, we decided to look at other theater renovations, and major projects, to understand how long some of these major projects took from conception to completion. To be fair, for sure, it did take 2,300 years to complete the Great Wall of China.

But what about some other theaters:

Westerly’s United Theater is a former vaudeville house that originally opened in 1926, and like so many similar theaters, including the Opera House, became a movie house, closing in 1986. In 2003 the Westerly Land Trust purchased it, and in 2015 by the non-profit United Theatre. Construction began in May 2019, at a projected cost of $12 million. It reopened two years later on July 9, 2021.
In New Bedford, a theater opened on April 2, 1923, a vaudeville house that was called “a palace for the people.” In today’s dollars, theater officials estimate the cost to build the theater would equal $12 million. It eventually became the State Theater, a movie house, but closed and faced demolition. In late 1981, the theater was saved from the “wrecking ball” and the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center was born. Today, this 1,200-seat theater is planning a $32 million renovation, from “top to bottom,” It begins with a benefactor that has pledged $8 million to $10 million, and projection that renovations will take some 14 months.

So, how long did it take to build some other major construction projects:

The $150 billion International Space Station — five agencies and fifteen countries. The size of a football field, weighing some 460 tons. Ten years.
The Pyramid of Giza, Egypt – 20 years.
Eiffel Tower, built in the 19^th century – two years.
Statue of Liberty – nine years.
Empire State Building – one year.
The Breakers in Newport – two years.
Sydney, Australia Opera House – 14 years.

Of course, many of these were either private developers, slave labor (the pyramid) or funded nearly entirely through government resources.

We hear the frustrations of some, but also hear the hope of others that a once splendid performing arts space will again capture the imagination and heart of the city.