Upgrades made to local arts center

PLATTSBURGH | The Strand Center Theatre was originally built in 1924 as a Vaudeville Theatre. In 2004, Strand Center for the Arts purchased the building and has been working on a capital campaign to restore the historical place ever since. While COVID-19 did provide many challenges to organizations like Strand Center for the Arts, it also provided them with the opportunity to complete the renovations to the theatre. "It was long but it turned out to be super productive cause we were able to do some things internally that would've been much more difficult if operations had been in full swing," Tom McNichols, president of the Board of Directors for Strand Center for the Arts, said. Strand Center for the Arts received a Downtown Revitalization Initiative, DRI, grant in 2017 which funded all the renovations. The DRI program brought approximately $10 billion to the area. "The theatre received all final aesthetics. The new concession area, we extended the dancing area of the orchestra pit, the new guardrail of the balcony, the new carpeting of the balcony, and a little bit of new lighting and sound gear. And in the Art Center at 23 Brinkerhoff, the entire second floor was completely gut-renovated and is now a MakerSpace digital 3D, a lot of different 3D mediums of technology: 3D printers, CNC Routers, as well as a flex classroom and a music classroom," explained McNichols. While the new space at 23 Brinkerhoff St. is called the MakerSpace, that's more of a loose term to describe what the space really is. The new space has all sorts of mediums of creation, making it a valuable tool to artists of all varieties. The MakerSpace is currently not open to the public as curriculum and the inner workings of the space are still being developed. McNichols said, "It will be open to the public very soon, we're still developing curriculum and exactly how it will work." Renovations and upgrades weren't the only things in the work while the Strand Center for the Arts was closed, McNichols was also working on getting more world-class acts on stage at better prices. "One of the other things that I did when we were closed was formalized a partnership with Higher Ground, which is owned by Crothers Entertainment. And most of the shows, most of the mainstage shows that you see happening that are not associated with a local theatre company or other local presenters. Most of those main stage shows are now coproductions between Higher Ground and The Strand Theatre which has just increased our ability to bring in world-class acts at better prices, just better terms all around for better sustainability of the organization," said McNicholas. The Strand Center for the Arts fully reopened in June and has a handful of shows already booked for 2022. "It's great. All of the potential energy has come to the surface and we're doing more than the Strand has ever been able to do before," McNichols said on reopening. While the theatre is fully renovated and operational, the Art Center still has some improvements that need to be made. "The theatre is definitely done…the Art Center we did just submit for a capital grant because the windows and exterior doors definitely need replacing ASAP as well as some other infrastructure things…," stated McNichols. Although the finishing touches are still waiting to be made to the Art Center, the Art Center is still operational. A Community Gallery Show will be opening on Friday, Feb. 4. This show will be on display until Friday, Feb. 25 during gallery hours. All gallery shows at Strand Center for the Arts are free to the public, with a new gallery opening on the first Friday of each month. To see upcoming events and galleries at Strand Center for the Arts, visit https://www.strandcenter.org/.

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Upgrades made to local arts center

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