11/21/17 – Ground was officially broken Monday on the new Beaver Dam Area Community Theatre Fine Arts Center. The non-profit has been in the community for 53 years and has had their own building on North Spring Street since 1983. Fundraising Co-Chair Annette Kamps, a founding members of the non-profit, thanked supporters for helping with a project that provides a continuing source of community pride along with personal, cultural, social and educational opportunities.
The effort for a new building was driven by the desire to have a handicapped accessible facility and more space. Fundraising began in 2010 and original plans called for an expansion of the current facility. Current Board President Scott Eberle took the effort in a different direction, proposing the shuttered downtown school on Maple Avenue, across from Family Video, formerly known as St. Patrick’s and then St. Katharine Drexel.
The theatre’s Managing Director David Saniter noted during yesterday’s ceremony that Eberle has volunteered 40-hour work weeks serving as a de facto project engineer. The $2.6-million-dollar, 22-thousand-square-foot building will include a state-of-the-art, handicapped accessible auditorium with 350 seats, a larger stage with a proscenium and curtain, an orchestra pit, dressing rooms, and a scene shop to construct sets. Another 300-thousand dollars still needs to be raised.
People can sponsor seats for either $600 or $750 dollars depending on location. Granite floor tiles can be inscribed for $900 dollars apiece. Finally, a name can be enshrined on a donor board in the lobby for $1000 dollars. For more information on the project and on donating, you can visit www.bdact.org.
