Tempe sets groundbreaking ceremony

A groundbreaking ceremony for the voter-approved Tempe Center of the Arts (TCA) is set for 3 p.m. on March 24 on the south bank of the Tempe Town Lake, near the west end dam. Parking is accessible through the park entrance at Rio Salado Parkway, just west of the railroad bridge (at Ash Avenue).

Attendees will be able to view the footprint of the center, including the Main Theater, Studio, Gallery and Multipurpose room, which will be outlined on the site. Guests will be seated as if onstage in the Main Theater. Entertainment will perform in the Main Theatre, Studio and in the Lobby.

"This groundbreaking symbolizes one of the community's most outstanding cooperative efforts," Mayor Neil Giuliano said. "When completed in 2006, the Tempe Center for the Arts, along with nationally renowned Childsplay, will further define Tempe as a unique destination for cultural events and youth theatre for generations to come."

The 88,000 square foot facility will feature a 600-seat theatre, a 200-seat studio theatre, meeting and administration space and a 17-acre Arts Park. Users of the facility will include Childsplay, Tempe Little Theater, Tempe Symphony, Desert Dance Theater, Actors Renaissance Theater, A. Ludwig Dance, Arizona Academy for Performing Arts, Tempe Community Chorus and Essential Theater.

Tempe voters passed Proposition 400 in May 2000, which dedicated a 1/10 of a cent sales tax to provide funding for the Center.

Phoenix-based Kitchell CEM is serving as construction manager for the project. Kitchell, who has been working with the city since the projects' early planning stages, has extensive experience in managing the design and construction of performing and visual arts centers. Some of its projects include the Herberger Theater and Orpheum Theatre renovation in Phoenix, the Mesa Arts Center, the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Ky., the H Street Theatre in Sacramento, Calif., and the historic Balboa Theatre historic rehabilitation in San Diego."

The Tempe Center for the Arts is being funded through a dedicated sales tax
passed by Tempe voters in May 2000.

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