Colorado Ballet Moves into Denver's Art District

Colorado Ballet announced today that it has completed the move into its new building at 1075 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204. Construction on the 30,000 square foot building at the north end of Denver's Art District on Santa Fe was completed earlier this month.

In January 2013, Colorado Ballet purchased the building on Santa Fe Drive, which had been partly occupied by a sewing machine distributor and parts warehouse. In preparation for a move from the organization's home of 20 years at 13th and Lincoln-a space owned by the Colorado State Land Board-a capital campaign was initiated and major renovations ensued.

Colorado Ballet's new $6.5 million facility will host rehearsal and training studios as well administrative offices, while performances will continue to take place primarily in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House and Newman Center for the Performing Arts.

"The new building will encourage world-class dance to flourish in Colorado and enhance the training of the next generation of dancers," said Colorado Ballet's Artistic Director Gil Boggs. "Our new facility will also grow our outreach efforts, bringing dance to thousands of school-kids and people with disabilities. We will also host small performances and events in our new theater, exposing more people to the magic of dance in this thriving arts neighborhood."

The new facility, designed by Denver-based Semple Brown Design, features seven state-of-the-art dance studios for Colorado Ballet's professional Company and the Colorado Ballet Academy. In addition, the Armstrong Theater-a multi-use black box theater-will function as both a dance studio and performance space equipped with theatrical lighting, sound and telescoping seats for presenting smaller performances and hosting outside groups and their events. Improved amenities for the Company also include locker rooms, showers and a physical therapy room. The new Academy location also includes safer student drop-off and increased parking in the neighborhood for Academy families. Denver-based CMC Group, Inc. was the contractor.

"The search for a new space for the Colorado Ballet has been our priority for nearly a decade, thus the long awaited opportunity to turn a quiet structure on Santa Fe Drive into a theatrical showcase for the dancers and organization has truly been an honor," said Rusty Brown, AIA, cofounder and president of Semple Brown Design. "In partnership with Artistic Director Gil Boggs and their board of directors, we're thrilled to unveil this stunning new space designed to inspire the dancers, elevate learning, and provide one of our state's artistic treasures a permanent home-all while establishing a new anchor for our city's booming Santa Fe Arts District."

"This is the first time in our nearly 54-year history that we will own our building and that is very exciting for everyone involved with Colorado Ballet," said Boggs. "We have so much to celebrate in our organization, not just the new building but also last season's record-breaking attendance and performance revenue and our upcoming season of performances."

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