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About The Chronicle : Creswell & Cottage Grove. (Creswell, Ore.) 2019-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 2019)
THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2019 THE CHRONICLE — 3 SPOTLIGHT COMMUNITY ACT 3, SCENE 1 An architect’s rendering of the theatre’s new facade once the project is completed in 2021.PHOTOS PROVIDED/SUSAN GOES Cottage Theatre starts remodel By Aliya Hall Staff Writer After years in the making, Cottage Theatre is moving forward with their remod- eling plans. Although unex- pected changes in cost over the years required a differ- ent strategy, Executive Director Susan Goes said this summer they are getting started on their plan to grow the long-term health of the organization. “Our ultimate goal is to have this be the fi nest place to see live theatre in Lane County,” Goes said. “It’s already a lovely facility and this will really take it the next notch.” The theatre board has dubbed this project “Act 3, Scene 1” – a theatre refer- ence that corresponds to this being the theatre’s third major change and the fi rst stage of this project’s remodel. Changes that will be made during this stage include replacing the old seats with new ones for comfort, repainting the backstage area and putting in half of the new fi re sprin- kler system. “What we’re doing this summer is more modest than we originally planned, but we still plan to go forward with the full project in a couple of years,” Goes explained. In 2021, the renovations for Scene 2 will occur, which will focus more on acoustics, including upgrad- ing sound speakers and systems, and installing a hearing loop to support indi- viduals with hearing chal- lenges. The loop is the latest support technology and is compatible with most hear- ing aids; music and voices will come directly from the sound system into their hearing device. “We do have a lot of senior audience members, including some long-stand- ing patrons, that ultimately get frustrated because if you come to a play and you can’t hear or understand what’s going on, it’s not as fun,” Goes explained. “So, I’m really excited about what that will mean for many of our patrons.” She added that she’s most excited for the improve- ments that will enhance the audience’s experience, which will really be focused on adding more comfort- able seats, improving line of sight, and acoustics. The Our ultimate goal is to have this be the fi nest place to see live theatre in Lane County.” The Cottage Theatre remodel will be happening in two phases, this summer the theatre rebuilt the stage fl oor, repainted backstage and removed the old chairs; new chairs will be installed in September. fi nal remodel will also add 50 new seats to the theatre. The idea to remodel the theatre started in 2011 when the board was coming up Labor Day Week Sale! August 26th -31st! All Summer clothing is Summer Dresses & Tops are All Boutique Clothing in the Store is Yard and Garden Art is on Sale! 30% off! 20% off! 25% off! (Flags, Yard Stakes, Bird Baths, & Solar) “Last Chance Sale Corner” up to 75% off! All Home Decor, Jewelry, Scarves, Accessories, Candles, Wind Chimes, & Regular Priced Gift Merchandise is 20% off too! 119 South 6th Street ♦ Cottage Grove ♦ 541-942-0505 ♦ cottagegroveflowerbasket.com with a strategy to increase revenue for the theatre. After surveys and focus groups they concluded the best way would be to support the long- term health of the organiza- tion, and they started to look at what they could grow. The theatre added show- ings on Thursday, which bumped capacity by 20%; however, it has now been averaging 95% capacity and they needed to add more seats. Seats were also on the list because they were put in used when the theatre was fi rst built in 1998. “We thought, while replac- ing seats and needing to grow revenue, let’s remodel,” Goes said. After looking at initial designs and estimates, the project in 2014 looked like it would cost between $80,000 and $1.2 million. When the theatre started funding in 2016, it received a pledge by an individual donor, as well as state funding through the Cultural Advocacy Coalition. In 2018, the theatre wanted to add the sound equipment to fi x the acoustics as well as a new curtain, and received more donations and grants, as well as support from Travel Oregon. The theatre was aiming for the four-month construc- tion project to happen in the summer of 2019, but in April when the bids came back for construction, it was an esti- mated $2.5 million cost – $1 million over budget. Goes said that they had already started to move costumes out of the theatre and were ready for the proj- ect to start. She said the consensus was, “‘We just have to do this. We’ve said we’re going to do it, let’s just go get a loan and we’ll fi gure it out later,’ which was a normal human reaction – but when we got a loan offer on the table and really looked at the costs of fi nancing, we said, ‘Okay, we are not being prudent stewards here.’” At this point, the theatre is still accepting donations, and community members can get involved by sponsor- ing new seats if they want to help the fundraising process. Despite forcing the proj- ect into phases, Goes said she’s looking forward to what the remodel will mean for Cottage Grove as a whole. She said that the reason they were able to attract state funding was because 70% of their audi- ence comes from outside Cottage Grove, and 11% come from over 50 miles away. “We are conscious of the role that we play within Cottage Grove as sort of one of the magnets for visitors,” Goes said. “So, there’s a spillover economic impact and we’re really excited about the (expanded) role that we will play, that the additional seating capacity will allow.”
