Stuart’s Opera House has been a cornerstone of community art in Southeast Ohio since the building was erected back in 1879. Now the historic building will receive its first major renovation in 16 years.
The nonprofit organization plans to double the size of its lobby by knocking down a wall that normally leads to offices and expanding the backstage area to better accommodate the entertainers.
“With a sold out show we can put about 450 people upstairs, but if you’ve ever been here for a sold out show we can cram only 150 to 200 people (in the lobby),” said Tim Peacock, executive director of Stuart’s Opera House, 52 Public Square Nelsonville. “So our dream is expanding this lobby by knocking down the wall … which will double the size of the lobby.”
The extension will also include the addition of a real box office that will allow patrons to purchase tickets from the street and retrieve will call tickets from the lobby — as opposed to the current fold-out table method.
Peacock said many people get married in the theater space but have no room for a reception. By expanding the lobby, he said they hope to accommodate more events such as wedding receptions and business meetings.
He added that when people come to the opera house they aren’t just spending money there, they go out and buy dinner and gas at local establishments, which helps the community as a whole.
Part of that goal of serving the community will be expanding on the newly developed after-school program in which local musicians guide high school students through being in a rock band.
There are two unused floors of the opera house that are just gathering dust, but Peacock said he has a whole new vision for the space.
“The third floor is where we have most of the educational potential,” Peacock said. “There is a bigger space, which may have been a small ballroom at one point in time, that we can use for dance classes after school, yoga classes, actor workshops or we could even have smaller shows. Basically right now it’s a blank canvas.”
Bob Garbo, one of the board members for Stuart’s, said there is a lot of missing history in that space and hopes that the renovation process can dig up some of that missing knowledge.
Though there are no specific time tables in place or an estimate of how much the renovation will cost, Peacock said everyone on the board is confident that the project is possible through regular revenue streams, donations and grants.
The announcement came the afternoon before indie rock band Yo La Tengo took the stage at Stuart’s. The group has played at the venue before and also played at the Nelsonville Music Festival in 2011.
The New Jersey band was formed in 1984 and has been incredibly influential in the indie rock scene despite its lack of commercial success. The 2013 release of Fade has been the group’s highest chart-topping success.
Ira Kaplan, the band’s frontman, sat down for a Q&A session with professor Josh Antonuccio from the school of Media Arts and Studies on Tuesday to talk about the band’s long history and tell stories from the studio and various tours of the year.
The group played to a full and attentive crowd Tuesday night as guitars screeched and flailed on stage to the meticulous pounding of the steady drums.
Brian Koscho, marketing director for Stuart’s, said it seemed appropriate to pair the announcement with the return of “one of the best acts to ever come through the venue’s doors.”
He added that the renovations will allow for more quality acts such as Yo La Tengo to make their way to the region.
“Unless something drastically changes in Southeast Ohio we’ll never be a place to have music five days a week, but we can do more,” Peacock said. “Like anyone, we want to reach for our highest potential and we know we’re not there yet.”
wh092010@ohiou.edu
@Wilbur_Hoffman
