St. Ann's Warehouse Begins Construction on Tobacco Warehouse
This morning, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, St. Ann's Warehouse Founder and Artistic Director Susan Feldman, St. Ann's Warehouse Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson, St. Ann's Warehouse Board Chair Joseph S. Steinberg, Brooklyn Bridge Park President Regina Myer, NYC Council Member Stephen Levin, State Senator Daniel Squadron and others broke ground at the Tobacco Warehouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The event signals the beginning of St. Ann's $27 million development of the historic building, originally constructed in 1861, into a 25,000 SF performing arts center and community hub on the Brooklyn waterfront. The Tobacco Warehouse will serve as a permanent home for St. Ann's, which has activated found spaces for cultural use in downtown Brooklyn since in 1980. The non-profit organization plans to present its opening season in the Brooklyn Bridge Park warehouse in Fall 2015.
St. Ann's Warehouse Secures Permanent Home in Brooklyn Bridge Park
After many years in donated and rental space, St. Ann's Warehouse has officially secured a permanent home in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Mayor Bloomberg announced that the Brooklyn Bridge Park Board of Directors has approved a long-term lease with the internationally renowned arts organization to develop a year-round performing arts facility and community hub in the Tobacco Warehouse, an iconic structure on the waterfront in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The announcement follows the recent completion of the federal conversion process enabling St. Ann's Warehouse to activate the space. The organization will break ground later this fall (date TBA), beginning the process to preserve and adapt the historic pre-Civil War building. St. Ann's Warehouse hopes to begin presenting in the Tobacco Warehouse in the fall of 2015.
St. Ann's Warehouse Unveils Tobacco Warehouse Design
St. Ann's Warehouse last night made the first public presentation of its design for the adaptive reuse of the historic Tobacco Warehouse, situated between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, on the waterfront in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Appearing before the Community Board 2 Joint Subcommittee of Parks and Land Use, the organization, led by Jonathan Marvel of Rogers Marvel Architects PLLC, revealed plans to preserve the structure-a widely beloved relic of New York City's pre-Civil War, industrial past-and adapt it into a year-round performing arts facility and community hub. Upon completion of a Federal Conversion process that is currently underway, St. Ann's Warehouse will sign a lease with Brooklyn Bridge Park, and the Tobacco Warehouse will become the organization's future home.
Sarah Jessica Parker, Patti LuPone et al. Celebrate NY City Center Reopening Tonight
New York City Center will reopen following a historic renovation and modernization with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and star-studded gala on Tuesday, October 25 at New York City Center. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will conduct the Encores! Orchestra in the opening number (as a nod to Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, who conducted the New York Philharmonic when City Center opened as a performing arts center in 1943).
