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Renovations to drop curtain on Dock Street Theatre
By Kathleen Dayton
Staff Writer
Renovations planned for the historic Dock Street Theatre at Church and Queen streets may take longer than originally expected, and the theater most likely will be dark during Spoleto Festival USA in both 2008 and 2009.
The theater, which is owned by the city of Charleston, is home to the Charleston Stage Co. and houses the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs.
The renovation will cost about $15 million and is expected to begin sometime after the conclusion of this year’s festival, which runs from May 25 to June 10.
“We had tried very hard for quite a while to only be down for one festival, but it just looked like it wasn’t a wise thing to do to try to open back up for the 2009 season sort of prematurely,” said Steve Livingston, the city’s director of parks, which also overseas the city’s buildings and most capital projects.
Livingston said the magnitude and complexity of the renovation, which includes seismic and wind retrofitting of the theater, will likely take two years.
“We tried to structure the project so we would only miss the 2008 season and we would open up for the 2009 season, but that would be sort of a temporary opening and we would close back down and finish the restoration,” Livingston said. “We haven’t completely abandoned that, but the more we study it the more difficult it seems to be. It’s hard to stop a project when you’re that far along, take all the equipment out and then go back to work and finish the renovation.”
Spoleto Festival USA, which uses the Dock Street Theatre for concerts, operas and theater performances during the 17-day festival, has pledged to raise $3 million for the project through private fundraising. The city will spend about $12 million on the renovations. Most of the money will come from hospitality taxes and capital reserves, although the city received a $4 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for seismic strengthening of the building. More than $300,000 was also awarded to the project through a federal Great American Treasures grant.
“We feel a great responsibility to keep our historic buildings in excellent condition and the Dock Street Theatre hasn’t had a major renovation since it was reconstructed 70 years ago,” said Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. “The Dock Street Theatre is one of Charleston’s great treasures. The restoration and reconstruction of the theater in the early (1930s) was, I think, one of Charleston’s great 20th century achievements.”
The architectural firm of Evans & Schmidt has been working on the Dock Street project for more than three years. The firm specializes in historic restorations and recently completed the restoration of Charleston City Hall.
Dock Street has had some roof and air conditioning work done, but now needs structural repairs as well as electrical work, plumbing upgrades and much more, Riley said.
The Dock Street Theatre includes remnants of three 18th century buildings that were incorporated in the 19th century. The majority of the building was built in 1809 as the Planter’s Hotel, said Leigh Handal, director of marketing and public programs for the Historic Charleston Foundation.
The original Dock Street Theatre opened on the site in 1736 and fronted on present day Queen Street, originally called Dock Street. It is believed to be the second building constructed for theatrical purposes in America. The theater burned in 1740 and was rebuilt in 1754.
By 1809, the Planter’s Hotel had replaced the theater and became a favorite accommodation for planters from the Midlands who traveled to Charleston during horse racing season. It is believed that the façade facing Church Street, with its much-photographed wrought-iron balcony, was added to the building around 1855.
The Planter’s Hotel also occasionally housed one of the city’s theater companies, which performed at the nearby New Theatre during the mid-19th century. One of its best-known actors, Junius Brutus Booth, was the father of John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Junius Booth allegedly tried to kill his manager at the Planter’s Hotel in 1838.
The building was transformation back into a theater when the city renovated it in 1935 as a Works Progress Administration project. Local architect Albert Simmons created the 18th century-style theater and used neoclassical woodwork salvaged from the Radcliffe-King Mansion, a house that was demolished at the corner of Meeting and George streets to make way for the College of Charleston’s gymnasium.
Dock Street Theatre opened for performances in 1937.
While the theater is under renovation, Charleston Stage Co. plans to use the College of Charleston’s Sottile Theater for larger productions and the American Theater on King Street for smaller productions.
Spoleto Festival USA expects to hold the 2008 and 2009 Chamber Music Series as well as some of its other productions in Memminger Auditorium, which is also scheduled for renovation. The Beaufain Street auditorium, designed by Albert Simmons and built in 1938, is also considered a historic structure.
“In Charleston, our period of significance goes up to 1944,” said Katherine Saunders, associate director of preservation for the Historic Charleston Foundation.
Spoleto Festival USA is leading the renovation efforts for Memminger Auditorium, which will cost about $6 million. The festival also wants to raise $3.5 million for an endowment fund to ensure maintenance of the theater over the long term as well as to help fund programming and outreach community programs at the auditorium.
The auditorium is adjacent to Memminger Elementary School and is owned by the Charleston County School District. It is in a long-term lease to the city, which in turn has signed a management agreement with Spoleto Festival USA. The festival took on the renovation project as a community service project, said Nigel Redden, the festival’s general director.
“Clearly we felt this was a theater that would not only benefit us, but also would benefit others in the community,” Redden said.
The festival has used Memminger Auditorium in the past, most recently as a venue for Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni.”
“By the time we got around to ‘Don Giovanni,’ where we were getting an audience that wasn’t necessarily planning on inadequate bathrooms, it became clear we needed to do something,” Redden said.
Memminger will be renovated in black box fashion, meaning it will not have a raised stage but rather a flat floor. This will enable the space to be used for banquets, lectures and other functions.
“It really is a much more flexible space,” Redden said. “Looking at the theaters in Charleston, it will be quite different from anything else and will have a kind of utility to it and an inspirational quality that it previously didn’t have.”
The festival has already raised $1.5 million toward the Memminger renovations and the city has pledged $1 million toward the project. Work is scheduled to begin March 7 and will last for about 13 months.
Kathleen Dayton is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at kdayton@charlestonbusiness.com.
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