The Phoenix Theatre Co. announced the groundbreaking of its central Phoenix campus development plan, having raised $28 million toward building a new 500-seat state-of-the-art theater.

Plans call for the organization to break ground in summer 2023.

In addition to apreviously announced theater enlargement, the Phoenix City Council on Dec. 13 voted to include nearly $6 million in funding that will support the building of Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant rehearsal spaces, offices, and educational facilities as part of the general obligation bond going in front of voters in November 2023.

The largest employer of artists in Arizona, The Phoenix Theatre Co. offers some of the most inclusive community service programs in the country with their Partners That Heal Program and Adventure Stage for children with disabilities.

While the public areas of the theater have been upgraded for ADA accessibility, the backstage areas of the 1951 facility have largely remained untouched.

“If approved by the voters in the fall, this funding will be transformational to children, artists and staff like myself who have mobility issues” said Matt Schaefer, Phoenix Theatre’s managing director who is a T6 paraplegic. “For 16 years I have pulled myself up a steep non-compliant ramp to get to my office. This funding will remove barriers to my work as well as remove barriers to participation for so many others making our programs and services even more accessible.”

The organization plans to raise $45 million for this second phase of its campus development plan.

“Having just premiered '¡Americano!' in New York, we are excited to continue developing new musicals for the American musical theater canon,” said Michael Barnard, producing artistic director for the company. “Our plan creates an expanded facility that allows us to produce pre-Broadway work here in Arizona, offering hundreds of local jobs to artists, technicians and creatives while also capitalizing on substantial outside investment in our local economy.

While the Arizona produced show did well, the theater lacks some of the capabilities others do in landing pre-Broadway shows, something organization officials are hoping to correct, Barnard said..”

The Phoenix Theatre Co. currently employs 130 full-time employees and, with a $12 million annual operating budget, is the largest regional theater in Arizona and one of the largest in the Southwest.

“We’ve come a long way from our humble beginnings as the Phoenix Players more than 100 years ago, operating out of a horse barn in what is now our outdoor courtyard,” said Jim Manley, board president for the organization. “Our vision for the last 20 years has been to grow The Phoenix Theatre Co. into a regional powerhouse and elevate Arizona to national cultural prominence. I’m very proud of the legacy we’re building for the arts in this community.”

Contributors to the theater include Steven Spielberg, Billie Jo and Judd Herberger, Richard J Stephenson and Dr. Stacie J. Stephenson, Bill Pope, Carole and Arte Moreno, Rob and Melani Walton Foundation, Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, The David E Reese Family Foundation, Linda Herman, Jeff and Nancy Werner, and Judith Hardes, as well as support from municipal, state and federal sources.

Chanen Construction will be the contractor building the new facilities.

“This was the late Herman Chanen’s final construction project – one that he felt was so important to the future of Phoenix arts that he personally helped to fundraise to support it” said Bill Pope, co-chair of the capital fundraising efforts.

“Over two decades in the making, this endeavor elevates the status of Arizona within the region as well as the nation as a destination for performing arts in the western part of the country and will serve to provide additional economic impact to both the artistic and the broader Phoenix community,” said Vincent VanVleet, Executive Director for the Theatre.

Total investment in the theater will reach $70 million through two phases, VanVleet said.

The Phoenix Theatre Co. has engaged Dallas-based Connect Partnership Group to provide strategic consultation regarding the development of a facility naming rights opportunity and other sponsorship opportunities for the expanded facility that will further propel this phase of the Theatre’s development across the finish line.

While total fundraising is almost 75% complete, the organization looks to the multitudes of arts supporters and corporate sponsors, including a prospective naming rights sponsor, in the Valley to help complete the capital campaign goal. More information can be found at www.phoenixtheatre.company.com/elevate.