Perseverance Theatre Receives Willoughby Arts Complex (WAC) Planning Funds

Perseverance Theatre (PT) has been awarded $50,000 from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and $25,000 from the Rasmuson Foundation to continue work on the pre-development phase of the Willoughby Arts Complex(WAC). Perseverance Theatre and the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council(JAHC) are partnering to build the new theatre complex for Alaska's capital city.

The Allen and Rasmuson Foundation's support will help cover the costs of preliminary concept and design work, development of business plans for the new facility, and to prepare for schematic designs. Funds will also be used to work with consultants, develop a space list, lead a series of meetings with community stakeholders, develop a RFP process for hiring a lead architect, create a marketing piece for the facility based on the program, and explore parking requirements.

Theatre Projects Consultants (TPC) and The Foraker Group have both been involved in the preliminary concept phase. TPC is a company hired to specialize in the design, planning, and operation of new and renovated live performance spaces as well as offering a thorough preliminary process which includes a number of services. The first service provided was a meeting to understand the mission, vision, and needs of the community and arts organizations. This initial meeting asked for the communities and organizations to think big about an ideal dream space and to leave nothing off the table. At the end of a preliminary meeting TPC consultant Tony Forman was asked what he thought the complex would cost, at which Mr. Forman replied with $50 million.

"Good planning expertise is so important to making this type of building successful, so we are all very grateful to the Allen and Rasmuson Foundations for their support, and to Theatre Projects and The Foraker Group for collaborating with us to do this early exploratory work. As Tony's response of $50 million dollars for a dream space shows, costs can escalate quickly," said Art Rotch, Artistic Director of Perseverance Theatre. "Thanks to our access to Theatre Projects experts, we can make smart choices about how much building we can afford to build and operate now, before we engage with the full design team later this year. PT and the JAHC are absolutely committed to crafting this project so it is affordable for our community to build and operate, which doubtless means spending less than $50 million dollars on construction. Having this funding to retain this kind of expertise now makes it much easier for us to follow through on that commitment to affordability and a great arts space for us and our children who will be making art in Juneau and in this facility for many years to come."

Including the Allen Foundation, the WAC has seen major support both locally and nationally with funds from the Rasmuson Foundation and the City and Borough of Juneau. Perseverance Theatre and the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council will work to secure additional funding on the national and local levels, including the Alaska state government, other private foundations, and individual donors.


Perseverance Theatre was founded in 1979 and serves 15,000 artists and audiences annually with classical, contemporary and world premiere productions. It has developed more than 65 new plays by Alaskan and national playwrights, including Paula Vogel's 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning play How I Learned to Drive, building a national reputation for excellence in leadership in the theatrical field. For more information visit www.perseverancetheatre.org.

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