City officials today will break ground on a long-awaited $30 million renovation of the century-old Strand Theater in Fort Greene, so it can again serve a nonprofit arts and media group that’s best known for putting on the popular Celebrate Brooklyn! festival each summer.
Mayor Bloomberg, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and others are expected to participate in the ceremonial groundbreaking of the new home for BRIC Arts | Media | Bklyn.
BRIC Arts is currently working out of a temporary site in DUMBO until it moves back to the theater at Rockwell Place and Fulton Street.
The project — which is predominately city-funded and one of many planned for the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Cultural District — would create new performance space, additional studio space for Brooklyn Cable Access Television (BCAT) and more blowing room for the glass-blowing collective Urban Glass.
The groundbreaking will be followed by a formal ceremony at the Mark Morris Dance Center with remarks by officials and the design unveiling by architect Thomas Leeser.
The renovation of the historic 1918 Strand Theatre is anticipated to be finished in 2013.
The renovated building will include three galleries with 8,000 square feet of exhibition space, a 250-seat performance space, a television studio, an artist performance/work space, a glass working facility, a retail space, a public lobby and two classrooms.
BRIC operates the Celebrate Brooklyn! Performing Arts Festival, a free, summer-long festival that has been presented at the Prospect Park Bandshell every year since 1979 In addition to performances, the nonprofit also provides compelling and accessible contemporary art exhibitions, Brooklyn-focused television programming, and education programs, as well as subsidized platforms for artists and community members to develop and present new works.
Related story:
BRIC arts organization heading to DUMBO for two years (NY Post Brooklyn Blog)