Guild Hall To Revisit Plans For A Refurbished John Drew Theater

Guild Hall’s leadership announced this week that the organization is pulling back on the reins of its plans to revamp the John Drew Theater, in the wake of a chorus of complaints about designs for the new theater that appeared to wholly abandon the historic “circus tent” aesthetic in favor of technological advances.

Executive Director Andrea Grover said this week that the renovation plans for the rest of the facility will continue while the board assesses the best way to reboot the theater renovation and upgrades with an eye toward the historic character and with input from the public, and keeping with plans to reopen the entire facility by next year.

“We are examining the best way to incorporate valuable community feedback into an approach that makes the theater exceptional for artists and audiences of today and tomorrow, while balancing innovation with preservation,” Grover said this week. “Our leadership is excited to commence enhancements for the rest of the facility and landscape, with our reopening date remaining summer 2023.”

Earlier this year, the board had unveiled a sweeping new $25 million capital improvement plan for the theater and gallery rooms, as well as educational spaces, offices and other amenities around the property, and some logistical improvements around the exterior parking areas and walkways.

The centerpiece of the effort would be the extensive modernization of the theater, with redesigned seating for better viewing, better acoustics and technological infrastructure that the facility’s technical directors say are crucial to the theater keeping pace with changing artistic expressions and being able to attract top performers and presenters.

But the proposal prompted objections from some who said that the changes to the theater’s historic appearance in favor of modernization went too far, and they called on the facility’s leaders to rethink the approach.

Grover and Board of Trustees Chairman Marty Cohen announced that the board would “pause and reflect” on the new designs for the theater at the Guild Hall board’s meeting on Wednesday, May 25, and released a public statement the following day.

“Our planned improvements focus on enhancing safety and access, visitor experience, beautification of our landscape, and the physical and technical capabilities of our museum, theater, education center, and office space,” the statement said. “Since embarking on first steps of our plan this spring, we have received both positive and critical responses to our proposal, specifically for the John Drew Theater — from those who want us to have exceptional facilities for the arts, to those who think we’ve gone too far with that vision.”

The statement notes that Guild Hall’s current capital campaign launched last year on the occasion of the arts institution’s 90th anniversary and said the intention of the campaign is to “address the challenges of presenting artists and performers today in a building that was made for artists and performers of 90 years ago,” and calls modernizations necessary to the institution’s future relevance and “advancement.”

“Guild Hall understands that buildings serve as containers of community memory and history, and physical spaces possess intangible qualities which provide important continuity and value,” the leadership said. “We have heard the voices of our community, whose passion for Guild Hall is evident and moving, and have taken measure of how we can incorporate the feedback while still accomplishing the vital goal of time-proofing our institution.”