Santa Cruz Shakespeare to Relocate to DeLaveaga Park

Santa Cruz Shakespeare is thrilled to announce that on February 9, 2016 the City of Santa Cruz voted to approve its proposed use of Upper DeLaveaga Park as the home for the Festival's summer performances. The agreement with Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department is for a 2-year lease on a site in the park located on Upper DeLaveaga Park Road near the Santa Cruz County Regional 911 Center and the former Cabrillo Stroke Center.

"Not only does this vote provide a beautiful new home for Santa Cruz Shakespeare," said Mike Ryan, Santa Cruz Shakespeare's Artistic Director, "but it advances civic goals as well, including diversifying and improving use of the City's community parks, and providing a public/private partnership to develop a new outdoor performance venue for Santa Cruz."

Construction of the new theater, to be called "The Grove," is planned to begin as soon as building permits are approved and is expected to be completed for the start of the 2016 Summer Season on July 12, 2016.

"We are very excited to be able to house Santa Cruz Shakespeare at a City facility," said Dannettee Shoemaker, Director of Parks and Recreation. "Relocating this Santa Cruz institution to Upper DeLaveaga Park will provide an opportunity for residents and visitors to enjoy this beautiful community park while enjoying world class theatre."

Ryan added, "None of this would have been possible without an extraordinary amount of work by City staff, the support of our members, and thoughtful input from our new neighbors in Prospect Heights. We are grateful to everyone for taking a passionately active role in envisioning this new home as both an exciting and considerate one. Santa Cruz Shakespeare has long provided a place for people in our community to come together, and it seems right that so many were involved in launching this new chapter in the city's cultural life."

The theatre company will raise a total of $1 million to fund the construction of the new performance space. Over $625,000 has already been pledged for the project, and a #BuildTheGrove campaign is underway with a public appeal to raise the additional $375,000.

Santa Cruz Shakespeare's Board President, Rick Wright, is thrilled with this measure of unanimous support from the City Council. "The amount of work that has brought us to this point in only ten months is staggering," states Wright. "It's been a joy to be involved with such a great team from the City, the community, and Santa Cruz Shakespeare. It's tempting for us to breathe a sigh of relief, but there is so much work to be done to open our doors in only five months for the start of the 2016 Festival. This construction project provides a great opportunity for those who have been touched by Shakespeare in Santa Cruz to participate in this last major chapter in the establishment of Santa Cruz Shakespeare as an independent theater company. We are looking forward to welcoming our patrons, new and old alike, to our new home this summer."

Santa Cruz Shakespeare will announce its 2016 Season on February 25, 2015. Tickets go on sale to SCS Members on May 2, 2016 and to the general public on May 16, 2016.