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(DALLAS) June 22, 2006 – The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation announced that the first dig on the future site of the Center began on schedule this month to create a 40-foot deep hole that measures 400 feet wide by 200 feet long for the 600-space underground parking structure that will be part of the four-venue Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, located in the heart of the Dallas Arts District. Pre-construction work began on the site after the historic groundbreaking events last November, to clear and prepare the area for major construction. Earlier this week, work began in “shoring up” the site of the underground garage, which entails placing 110 steel drill shafts, each 30” in diameter, in the ground as part of the steel column shoring system to stabilize and prepare the area for excavation.
“Dallas is amidst a renaissance unlike any transformation in its distinguished history. This renaissance is not measured as much by the volume of construction and development underway as it is by what is being constructed and developed. The extraordinary Victory Development, One Arts Plaza, Museum Tower, the new Ritz-Carlton and Azure, Ray Hunt’s new headquarters, Woodall Rodgers Park and, of course, the buildings to compose the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, will collectively change the way Dallas families and visitors live, spend, recreate and enjoy cultural experiences for generations to come,” said Howard Hallam, Board Chair for the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation and the mayor’s appointed Arts District Coordinator. “As a native Dallasite and one who has observed this city for more than a half century, I believe the era in which we are living is both invigorating and encouraging as Dallas matures into one of the great cities in the world.”
Campaign on Track “At this momentous time in the campaign, we are pleased to report the project is on schedule and on budget, said Caren Prothro, Vice Chair of the Board, Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation. “To date 84 Dallas families and organizations have made gifts of $1 million increasing total funding to more than $204 million.”
As the campaign to build the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts approaches its final chapter, all of the primary goals of the campaign’s first two phases have been accomplished; the project is on schedule and on budget, with construction of the parking garage beginning this June; renowned architects have designed remarkable venues to comprise the Center; total funding for the project has reached $206 million, including 84 gifts of $1 million and above from Dallas families and organizations; a multi-generational contract has been executed with the City of Dallas that will help ensure prudent management and quality control of the Center’s future management; and, a responsible, comprehensive business plan for the Center is in development.
The campaign to build the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts is also historic because of the level of private sector funding committed to the project. Private sector campaign funding will total 93 percent of the project’s total cost or $257 million, one of the largest private sector commitments to a project of this size in the history of American capital campaigns. Less than five cents of every donor dollar committed to date has been used to support the campaign’s operation, making the project one of the least expensive campaigns of its kind and size.
“In August we will begin the final three-year phase of the nine-year campaign to build the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, a phase dedicated to construction and program development,” said Sarah Perot, member of the Foundation’s board of directors and chair of the Cornerstone Donor Program. “Construction of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts will complete the 25-year dream of the Dallas Arts District, making Dallas competitive with the greatest cities in the world in attracting the next generations of its families and companies.”
The campaign’s Cornerstone Program already generated more than $24 million in funding for construction toward a goal of $30 million by the Program’s conclusion at the end of 2006.
Construction Timeline Work will continue on the garage for three months to bring the three-level underground structure to near completion. In late summer, the area will then be prepped to begin construction on the 215,000 square foot Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, seating 2,200 and located on the same plot of land on Flora Street, just east of the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. Just across the street, foundation work will begin on the more than 80,000 square foot, 12-level Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, seating 600. In early 2009, construction will begin on the completely new Annette Strauss Artist Square. The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts is scheduled to open in the fall of 2009.
Garage Architects Good, Fulton & Farrell Architects (GFF) will design the underground parking structure that will serve patrons of the Center’s venues and the eastern end of the Dallas Arts District. Headquartered in Dallas, GFF offers premier architectural, interior, and urban planning services locally, nationally and internationally. Consistently ranked as one of the largest firms in North Texas, GFF is currently involved in most of the major civic initiatives with the Central Business District, including the Inside the Loop Committee, the Downtown Transportation Master Plan, and the Downtown Parks Master Plan.
About the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts’ will consist of the following: · Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House and its Margaret McDermott Performance Hall—a 2,200-seat venue designed by Foster and Partners for performances of opera, ballet, Broadway and various traveling productions. · Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre—a flexible 600-seat theater for classic and experimental performances designed by Rem Koolhass/OMA and Joshua Prince-Ramus/REX. · Annette Strauss Artist Square—a new home for the city’s premier outdoor performing arts venue, also designed by Foster and Partners, able to accommodate audiences of up to 5,000 in a serene open-air setting. · City Performance Hall—a main stage production space for Dallas’ smaller performing arts organizations, designed by Skidmore Owings and Merrill and constructed by the City of Dallas. · Grand Plaza – The Center’s venues will be woven together by the Grand Plaza, a new park covering more than nine acres and larger than London’s Trafalgar Square. Designed by landscape architect Michel Desvigne of Paris, the Plaza will unify the four venues and create a dynamic cultural destination in downtown Dallas. · Underground parking garage – a three-level garage will accommodate 600 vehicles.
The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts has raised more than $204 million towards its capital campaign goal of $275 million. The campaign was publicly launched in 2000 and has received more than 80 percent of its funding from individuals who in the past have not previously been supporters of the arts. Major campaign gifts include $42 million from Margot and Bill Winspear, $20 million from Dee and Charles Wyly, and $10 million from Margaret McDermott and the Eugene McDermott Foundation. The Center has received 84 gifts of $1 million and above. Additionally, $18 million in bond funds were approved towards the project by Dallas voters in 2003.
The Center will serve as the home for The Dallas Opera, the Dallas Theater Center, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Texas Ballet Theater, Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico, and other Dallas-area performing arts organizations. It will also host visiting music, dance and theater companies from around the world.
The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts will be located in the Dallas Arts District, a unique, 17-block, 61.7-acre neighborhood in the heart of the city’s commercial center. Established in 1983 as an initiative to centralize the Dallas arts community, the Arts District is now home to a distinguished and diverse group of arts and cultural institutions. Anchored by the Dallas Museum of Art, designed by Edward Larabee Barnes; the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, designed by I.M. Pei; the Nasher Sculpture Center, designed by Renzo Piano; and the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, which is building a new facility designed by Brad Clopefil, the neighborhood serves as the foundation for creative vitality in downtown Dallas.
For more information, please visit www.dallasperformingarts.org.
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