Special Bd. of Aldermen — 01-22-2019 Page 3
discussion about the marque and what the exteriors thoughts are for the building. Then lastly process and
schedule overview.
One thing | want to make sure | highlight this evening is that Performing Arts Center Steering Committee made a
decision | would say the end of last year, early December to pursue ICON and OTJ as the designers because they
were very impressed with the concept plan and the work that they did during the RFP process or | should say the
RFQ process. What they presented to the group and is the direction that folks want to go in was very unique and
novel and | believe hit the right note in every way with all the priorities of the Steering Committee. And what do |
mean by that? So this is a somewhat different concept than what was discussed during the feasibility study.
During the feasibility study there were some ideas about having the theatre on the second floor. That has now
been waylaid and it is definitely going to be designed with the idea of having it on the first floor for logistical reasons
more than anything else. This concept that is currently being discussed also allows for back of the house and
stage productions at a much easier ability or operation than the feasibility study. So you have a proscenium now
being contemplated which is very important for stage productions and you have the site basically instead of being a
black box, you have a stage that is in the rear of the site. So the light blue would be the 201 Main Street or the Alex
Shoe Building; this lighter gray box right here would represent that early 1920’s structure that basically attaches
seamlessly to 201 Main Street. The idea would be is to look at this whole interior here and using this space, putting
the stage actually in the older of the two building; still having enough seats to accomplish that 500 to 750 seat type
of operation. They are suggesting 750 seats with this design.
You then have the front of the house here with concessions, ticketing, coat room, rest rooms and what not, all laid
out right here. And this is again all within the footprint of what we call the 201 Main Street building. It was
something that was warmly received by the Steering Committee because it helped deliver on all the goals that
actually was outlined by the Steering Committee and lead up to this RFQ process. This | should also make sure is
clearly understood is that this design stays within the construction budget as originally articulated.
So with that being said, there is still additional space to program and it is basically around the perimeter of the
envelope. So still thought possibly of having some sort of food, tappets, lounge right here, still thought of having
some sort of boutique retail on Pearl Street here, mechanical, loading would all still come in from here, back of the
house, 750 seats, this would be essentially the front entrance this area right here, basically the corner of Pearl and
Main Street. Again another slight change than what was discussed; there was discussion of maybe having the
entrance come from Pearl Street. Feedback we have heard from a lot and particularly the operator, Main Street
should be something that should be considered for the design.
So essentially what you are looking at if you were to look at this at a bird’s eye view, it is really this area in here that
is the light blue that we would be looking to really re-develop and then put in, this is basically if you were to look at
this as like a cake, you would be looking at the layers. So this is a project that they did, OTJ that is, in Toronto,
where they would be applying the same principles and theory here with confidence. What it is is instead of — you
have here is flat floor, which is that red line. You’d have about 500 seats on the first floor, you’d have basically a
balcony of 250 seats and you'd be raising the roof to the same height as the older structure that | was saying is in
the rear. This line right here would be the stage.
So this is just again a side view of what you’d be looking at. It should also be noted that all this is flexible and you’d
be able to still have this open space on the first floor if you wished to have this multi-purpose function room type of
design. That again is very important to not just the Steering Committee but to the operator and to theater designers
themselves, they all recognize the importance of this.
So that is just a very high level overview of some of the concepts being investigated right now. All of this is very
preliminary and still needs to be investigated and due diligence done as you move more towards the construction
document phase. So again this is just what you’d be seeing if it was raised, if the roof was raised. This talks about
the different goals that you are trying to achieve; retain the exterior shell, seating count and configuration is
important, stage configuration and flexibility, providing the technical program, expand the basement, lobby service
