COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL | MAY 6, 2021 | 3A
Cottage Theatre begins construction on major remodeling project
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Cottage Theatre is be-
ginning construction on its
ACT III remodeling proj-
ect, an effort that has been
10 years in the making. The
remodel will add 50 seats
to the theatre’s auditorium
and make a variety of safe-
ty and technical upgrades
to enhance audience and
participant enjoyment at
the 39-year-old communi-
ty theatre. Design for the
project is being handled
by GMA Architects of Eu-
gene, and Ordell Con-
struction will be serving
as the general contractor.
“This project was conceived
following years of capacity
crowds and multiple sold-
out performances,” said
Cottage Theatre Executive
Director Susan Goes. “At
the same time, our old seats
had passed the end of their
useful lifespan and some
chronically-underfunded
portions of our budget pro-
vided a strong incentive to
look for a way to grow rev-
enues. Adding more seats
emerged as the most practi-
cal way to accomplish this.”
To make room for 50 more
audience members, the
theatre will “re-rake” the
auditorium by adding con-
crete on top of the existing
levels to make a steeper
slope. The far side seating
sections will be eliminated
and more rows added to
the center three sections.
“One of the things we’re
most excited about is the
improved view from every
seat post-remodel,” said
Goes. “The lobby also will
be updated, with new, larg-
er bathrooms added, along
with a community room
that can host pre- and post-
show receptions, class-
es, and private meetings.”
Safety and accessibility
improvements to the fa-
cility include the addition
of a fire sprinkler system
(which was not required
by code when the build-
ing was constructed in
1998), aisle lighting, addi-
tional ADA seating, and
a Hearing Loop Assistive
Listening System. The lat-
ter will greatly improve
the theatre experience
for all patrons with tele-
coil-equipped hearing aids.
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Longtime Cottage Theatre
volunteer Board Treasur-
er Mark Allen has led the
fundraising effort for the
$2.4MM ACT III project.
“We are so excited to fi-
nally begin construction
on this project,” said Allen.
“This moment has been a
long time in coming. We
had originally hoped to
complete what was to have
been a $1.5 million proj-
ect in 2019, but an unex-
pected construction cost
increase caused us to delay
the project, so we had ad-
ditional time to raise more
money. We are so very
grateful to the hundreds of
theatre patrons who have
stepped forward to support
this project, by sponsor-
ing one of our new seats
or making an even more
substantial contribution.”
The largest single source of
support for Cottage The-
atre’s remodel comes from
individual donations, a
fact which helped CT at-
tract additional foundation
and government support.
Major funders include the
State of Oregon, M.J. Mur-
dock Charitable Trust, Ford
Family Foundation, Wood-
ard Family Foundation,
Fred W. Fields Fund of the
Oregon Community Foun-
dation, Faye and Lucille
Stewart Foundation, Sun-
derland Foundation, and
the Oregon Cultural Trust.
“At this point, we have
raised about 95 percent of
what we need,” Goes said.
“But we are far enough
along with our fund-
raising that we are con-
fident we can complete
construction this year.”
Construction on the re-
model is expected to con-
tinue through the summer.
Assuming
construction
occurs on schedule and
COVID guidelines per-
mit, Cottage Theatre hopes
to resume performanc-
es in October with their
long-postponed produc-
tion of Mamma Mia.
“We cannot wait to wel-
come everyone back to
the theatre!” said Allen.
Now in its 39th year, Cot-
tage Theatre has grown
tremendously since hum-
ble 1982 beginnings un-
der a parachute on the
lawn of Cottage Grove’s
Village Green. After oper-
ating out of a small store-
front for many years, the
theatre’s current facility
was built in 1998 (ACT
I).  A Rehearsal Hall was
added in 2006 (ACT II).
Cottage Theatre normally
produces plays and musi-
cals year-round, typically
presenting 80 performanc-
es annually; the theatre has
been closed since March
2020 due to COVID restric-
tions. The theatre also offers
children’s theatre camps
and partners with Cottage
Grove High School to pro-
duce the annual Rhythm &
Blues Revue each February.
A member of the Amer-
ican Association of Com-
munity Theatre (AACT),
Cottage Theatre was one
of six theatres in the na-
tion selected to produce
a world premiere in the
AACT 2018 NewPlayFest. 
Cottage Theatre will share
construction updates on its
website at www.cottagethe-
atre.org.
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