The Broad Stage in Santa Monica to Receive new 165-Set Music Hall Expansion

Images: DLR GROUP WWCOT

Santa Monica’s Eli and Edythe Broad Stage will be receiving a new $12.3 million wing, allowing the organization to expand its cultural programming and host more events. The plans include a 165-seat music hall, a rehearsal room and storage in a two-story structure that is expected to be completed in 2014.

The new facility will be located on the east side of the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center and will allow the organization to further expand its programming as it prepares for a new collaboration with Los Angeles Opera. According to Donald Girard, a senior director at Santa Monica College, they have hired the architecture firm DLR Group WWCOT to design the complex.

Named after billionaire Eli Broad, and his wife, Edythe, who donated $10 million towards programming and arts education, the Broad facilities opened in 2008 and include the main Broad Stage with 499 seats and The Edye space with 99 seats.

The expansion will include more than 19,000 square feet of space and designs show that a lot of glass will be used to allow great views into the building. The music hall also will have a movable wall, which will allow for it to be easily transformed into a semi-outdoor space. The structure will eventually be renamed after a donor.

Andrea Cohen Gehring, lead architect on the project, said, “The building is very respectful of the original architecture. It’s really a complementary building.”

Additional parking facilities are also in the plans as the existing parking lot is often full during the evening performances.

Source: LA Times

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