BalletMet Expands Downtown Footprint with Completion of Studio and Performance Space Renovations

After a multiyear renovation period, BalletMet has completed extensive renovations and an expansion to their downtown studios and performance space on Mount Vernon Avenue. Thanks to the STEP BEYOND campaign, several grants, and tireless contractors, BalletMet added a connector between their studios and performance space, built a new rehearsal studio, replaced all studio floors, and upgraded their costume and warehouse storage, locker rooms, restrooms, HVAC systems, and gathering spaces.

The new Connector space will not only serve as a link between BalletMet’s two buildings, it will also serve as their new lobby, house the box office, and offer a large space for community events and for academy families to use. Previously, BalletMet’s studios, offices, and costume shop were in one building, and their performance space and warehouse were in a separate building across an alley, limiting access and use. The addition added 3,400 sqft of usable space to BalletMet’s campus.

The new studio and connector renovations were funded largely by BalletMet’s STEP BEYOND fundraising campaign including a capital grant of $1M from the state of Ohio. The new studio floors were funded by a grant from the Reinberger Foundation and the Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC). 

“The renovations to our campus will not only benefit our company of dancers and our academy families but also the community at large. We now have a space we can offer for community events, and a performance space that can do the same,” said Sue Porter, BalletMet’s Executive Director. “We are incredibly proud of our campus, and we are even more proud to say that BalletMet remains a debt-free organization thanks to the generosity of our community and help from all those who worked with us during the construction process.”