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Arts & Entertainment

Center for the Performing Arts Aims Higher

By Tim Rogers |

Maybe the Center for the Performing Arts is getting a refund check from the gubment, too. They’ve raised so much money already ($277 million) that they’re upping their goal (to $338 million) to expand the project. What slow economy?

Campaign to Build Dallas Center for the Performing Arts
Expands Scope, Increases Goal

Unprecedented Fund-Raising Success Demonstrates Depth of Support Within Dallas Community and Creates Opportunities for Enhancements to the Center

DALLAS (January 28, 2008) — The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts announced today that, in light of the continuing success of its capital campaign, it will expand the project to allow for enhancements to the design of Performance Park and improvements to two of the Center’s venues, the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House and the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre as well as the addition of a second underground parking garage. With more than a year and a half until the fall 2009 opening of the new Center and with current funding at more than $277 million, the Center’s Board of Directors recently voted to increase the campaign goal to $338 million to include these additional resources and enhancements to the facilities and public spaces.

“When we began this campaign in 2000, we were optimistic about our chances for success, but we were also pragmatic when it came to designing the venues to fit a fiscally conservative budget,” said Howard Hallam, chair of the Board of Directors of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. “Now that we have surpassed the $275 million goal, we can take this opportunity to add elements that will enhance the project and will enable the Center to better serve Dallas and the North Texas community.”

The campaign to build the Center is one of the most successful of its kind because it is the first capital campaign in America to raise funds for an arts or cultural organization with more than 100 $1 million donors. The Center has continued to receive significant support through major gifts, including the recent $10 million contribution from Nancy Hamon. At the same time, the Center recently launched its Step into the Spotlight campaign, encouraging participation from the broader Dallas community through gifts of any size.

Construction of the new Center, the most significant new performing arts center since New York City’s Lincoln Center, continues on schedule. The only public funding for the project is $18 million approved by voters in the 2003 bond election. No additional public funding will be sought for the Center’s capital campaign, resulting in a campaign with more than 95% of its funds coming from private sources

The new goal will include funding for enhancements to Performance Park, the 10-acre park that unifies the four performance venues of the Center and improvements to the Winspear Opera House and Wyly Theatre, including the following:

* The addition of administrative office space to the Winspear Opera House.
* An upgrade of the rehearsal space in the Winspear Opera House to an education and recital hall, designed for small performances, education classes, meetings and receptions.
* The addition of a unique, retractable chandelier to the Winspear Opera House Margaret McDermott Performance Hall. The one-of-a-kind chandelier will be a signature feature of the 2,200 seat hall.
* Upgrades to the finishes in the Winspear Opera House, including a stone floor in the lobby and higher quality seats in the McDermott Performance Hall.
* Upgrades to the finishes of the public spaces of the Wyly Theatre, including the lobby and patron lounge.
The Center will also build a second Arts District underground parking garage, adding 260 spaces to the 600 already built. The second garage will be a one level structure built below the City Performance Hall. Together, the two parking garages will serve the Center and the eastern half of the Dallas Arts District. Based on studies of parking in the Dallas Arts District, the additional parking spaces will provide more than adequate parking for concurrent performances at the Center.

“The success of the campaign to build the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts is a testament to the importance of the project to the people of Dallas and the remarkable generosity of Dallas families and organizations,” said Bill Lively, president and CEO of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. “From the inception of the campaign we believed that if we made a compelling case defining the impact the Center would have on Dallas and the region when it opens in 2009, Dallas families and organizations would step forward with donations of historic significance to help create the Center.”

History of the campaign

The Campaign to build the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts was planned as the largest and most ambitious cultural project of its kind in Dallas’ history. The nine-year campaign was launched in November of 2000 with a fund-raising goal of $275 million, 93% of which was to be generated in the form of gifts and grants from Dallas families, companies and foundations.

To achieve the private sector portion of the campaign’s total fund raising goal, the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts conceived a volunteer-driven campaign plan designed to raise 100 gifts of $1 million or more from Dallas families and organizations, an incredible achievement in itself The Center also committed to keeping total campaign expenses to only five cents of each donor dollar, allowing 95 cents to go directly to the design and construction of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts.

Now, less than two years from the Center’s grand opening in fall 2009, the campaign is already the most successful cultural project in Dallas’ history. To date 114 gifts of $1 million or more have been committed by Dallas families and organizations to help build the Center. increasing total funding to more than $277 million.

Some of the largest gifts to the campaign include:

* $42 million gift from Margot and Bill Winspear. The Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House is named in recognition of this gift.
* $20 million gift from Dee and Charles Wyly and Cheryl and Sam Wyly. The new multiform theatre is named the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre in recognition of their support.
* $10 million gift from Mrs. Eugene McDermott and the Eugene McDermott Foundation. The performance hall of the Winspear Opera House has been named the Margaret McDermott Performance Hall in recognition of these gifts.
* $10 million gift from Deedie and Rusty Rose. In recognition of their support, the performance hall of the Wyly Theatre was named the Potter Rose Performance Hall.
* $10 million gift from Nancy Hamon. The Nancy Hamon Education and Recital Hall in the Winspear Opera House will be named in her honor.
* $5 million contribution from Annette and Harold Simmons. The Winspear Opera House Annette and Harold Simmons Signature Glass Façade was named in recognition of their support.

About the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts:
The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, a new multi-venue Center for music, opera, theatre and dance will open in 2009, completing the 25-year vision of the Dallas Arts District. The Center will provide multi-state-of-the-art facilities woven together by an urban park covering more than ten acres to create a dynamic cultural destination that will be unparalleled in the world. The Center will feature the following:
· The Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, designed in a modern horseshoe configuration, will seat 2,200.
· The Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre will serve as a gateway to the Dallas Arts District from the downtown Dallas business center and will seat 600.
· The completely new Annette Strauss Artist Square will be the Center’s outdoor entertainment venue, which can accommodate audiences of up to 5,000.
· The City Performance Hall will provide main stage production space for many of Dallas’ smaller performing arts organizations.
· The 10-acre Performance Park will unify the venues and will create a dynamic cultural destination in downtown Dallas.
· Two underground parking structures will accommodate 900 vehicles.
More information on the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts is available at www.dallasperformingarts.org .

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