The San Angelo Performing Arts Center 2016!

SAPAC (San Angelo Performing Arts Center)

“The arts are an essential element of education, just like reading, writing, and arithmetic…music, dance, painting, and theater are all keys that unlock profound human understanding and accomplishment.”

–William Bennett, Former US Secretary of Education

 

Scene I:  San Angelo is home to four long-standing, community performing art groups – Angelo Civic Theater, San Angelo Civic Ballet, San Angelo Cultural Affairs Council, and the San Angelo Symphony.  

* Angelo Civic Theater (ACT) can trace its roots in San Angelo back to 1885 and is the oldest and longest running tradition of civic theater in Texas. 

* The Ballet was originally chartered in 1983 for the sole purpose of producing “The Nutcracker” in the City Auditorium, but the program quickly evolved into a year-round training ground for classical ballet in our community. 

* SACAC has long been an arts advocacy entity responsible for securing grant funds and providing on-going support for all the performing arts, as well as bringing first class performing groups to our community.

* Our San Angelo Symphony has been performing in the 1929-era City Auditorium since its inception in 1949…over 60 years!

 

Backstage:  Currently, ACT operates in a 60-year old converted movie theater that shows its age and limitations.  The Ballet operates in a variety of converted former stores in the downtown area and they are overcrowded, not physically connected, and pose parking problems for their students.  The Symphony lacks rehearsal space and storage and the City Auditorium is long overdue for a face-lift, as well as new lighting and sound.  Finally, San Angelo does not currently have an adequate venue to accommodate and produce traveling shows.

 

Enter Stage Right:  A feasibility study!  In response to our current issues, a feasibility study in 2007 determined the need to create a performing arts center in downtown San Angelo that would house all these local “treasures” together into one campus.  It would also provide the desperately needed “new and improved” performance spaces for these anchor groups as well as other community performing art groups and traveling shows.

 

Intermission:  While life in San Angelo moves on and our anchor groups continue to perform in what few performing spaces we do have, the “backstage crew” has been hard at work raising the necessary monies to begin construction on this facility.

 

Act 2:  After nearly two years and now having raised over $10 million dollars toward this $12.5 million dollar project, we are ready to break ground!  We have architectural drawings and construction documents that will allow us to begin moving “props” on this new San Angelo centerpiece for the performing arts in just a few short months.

 

Finale:   With additional “audience support,” we will continue raising the last few dollars necessary so that we can reach our goal of hosting the 2015 Christmas Symphony and Nutcracker in the “new” City Auditorium followed by an ACT performance in the spring of 2016 in the newly remodeled Coca Cola warehouse.

 

The Sequel:  The next step (phase 2) that continues, as this previous “show” is wrapping up, is more fund raising efforts so that we can build out a “back-of-house” for the City Auditorium.  This addition to our 1929 “jewel of San Angelo” will allow not only our local groups to have full and adequate stage needs met, but it will also put San Angelo on the map for traveling shows.

 

The End:  While renovations and remodeling will ultimately come to an end, this new performing arts center for San Angelo will be the BEGINNING of many continued years of fun and education through the arts for our community!

 

“The arts are the best insurance policy a city can take on itself.”

–Woody Dumas, former Mayor of Baton Rouge

“Art is the signature of civilizations."

Beverly Sills