Palo Alto’s plans for community center may include permanent home for TheatreWorks

Palo Alto’s upgrades to the Cubberley Community Center may include a permanent home for TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.

The city is planning to upgrade the existing theater for continued use by local community groups while creating a second theater for TheatreWorks, founded in Palo Alto in 1970.

The proposed Cubberley arts project involves refurbishments to the center’s existing theater space. Renovations would include adding restrooms, expanding the lobby, upgrading accessibility and revitalizing its technical capabilities.

The proposed project would also create a new professional-size theater for TheatreWorks to present its mainstage productions, as well as space for the company’s arts education, community engagement and new works programs. The city is pursuing development of a recreation and wellness center on another portion of the Cubberley campus.

TheatreWorks has presented productions at Palo Alto’s Lucie Stern Theatre since the company’s inception in 1970, and at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts since that space opened in 1991. The company currently rents offices and rehearsal spaces in Redwood City, and scenery for its productions is built across in Newark.

While the project is contingent on the city’s acquiring 7 acres from the Palo Alto Unified School District , to be combined with the 8 acres of land on the site that the city already owns,  TheatreWorks is exploring a partnership to share renovation costs with the city. TheatreWorks plans to initiate a fundraising effort to contribute  to the project’s capital development costs.

“TheatreWorks is excited to take this first step with the City of Palo Alto,” Katie Blodgett, chair of TheatreWorks’ board, said in a release. “We know there is a long road ahead and that years of hard work will be required to realize this goal.”

For more information on the Cubberley project, visit www.PaloAlto.gov/improvecubberley.