Phoenix Theatre Announces Demolition of Auto Vault Building

Demolition of the Auto Vault Building will begin at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, February 15, 2017, and will be completed over the following weeks. The demolition is being performed by Casey-Bertram, a local eco-friendly demolition contractor. This will ensure that as many of the materials from the demolition will be salvaged and recycled as possible.

The demolition precedes the construction of a new Phoenix Theatre (to begin in March 2017) at the northeast corner of Illinois and Walnut streets-directly on the Glick Peace Walk of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail-in downtown Indianapolis.

In January 2016 the theatre purchased property at the northeast corner of Illinois and Walnut streets, where the Glick Peace Walk of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail crosses Illinois Street. In addition to the two parcels of land where the new theater will be built, the Phoenix acquired a 48-space parking lot directly across Illinois Street. Following a five-month process to select the project architect from an initial pool of 15 firms, the theatre's leadership chose RATIO Architects to design the building.

The new building on the 1-acre property will include:

a 144-seat proscenium theatre

a configurable black-box theatre with seating for up to 90

dedicated classrooms and rehearsal studio

state-of-the-art scene shop and costume shop

a grand lobby that will open directly onto the Glick Peace Walk-a key stretch of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail

a donor/special events lounge

gallery space

a prep kitchen for catered events and event rentals.

"Our proposed new home (triple the square footage of the current facility) will allow us to present plays concurrently, resulting in the employment of more actors, directors, stage managers, choreographers and designers. The new facility also will allow us to offer more training classes to develop the next generation of talent locally, to help stem the tide of young theatre artists leaving to seek training and employment elsewhere. We also are excited about the role our new home will play in anchoring and boosting another neighborhood in transition, increasing arts tourism opportunities, and creating a new and unique destination in our core downtown," Fonseca said.

For more information on the Phoenix Theatre visit: www.phoenixtheatre.org.

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