DAVENPORT, Iowa — The Davenport Junior Theatre is now under a time crunch as it searches for a new home.
The program will have to leave the Annie Wittenmeyer Complex, as those buildings will be converted into affordable housing units. Plans to move to NorthPark Mall were originally announced in April. But in late September, the City said it might be too expensive to convert the former Younkers space. Now, it's a race against the clock to find a new alternative.
Acting City Administrator Nicole Gleason said building nine classrooms alone would have cost the City $12 million, not including the theatre.
"The NorthPark Mall option, it was originally vetted as an interim option," Gleason said. "And as we got into that space, discovering like a zoning change of use, things like that, it was just going to be very cost prohibitive to make it a short-term option."
She said the facility needed new HVAC systems, sprinklers and other safety requirements. So, it went back to the drawing board.
Daniel Sheridan was the performing arts supervisor for 16 years and was involved in Junior Theatre for much longer. His last day was Wednesday, and he transitioned to a new role at United Way of the Quad Cities on Thursday. He and other theatre staff have been involved in the search process.
The City held a community input meeting in January to learn about a preferred location, amenities and program focuses. Sheridan also has a wishlist.
"Ideally it is a place that is secure, safe, ADA accessible, we really value our green space, and then of course the adequate programming space to carry the program forward," Sheridan said.
He said the program has been growing steadily for 16 years, and he doesn't want the program to contract in a new space. In the current session, the program is serving 420 kids.
But the big focus is on cost.
"The staff is working on kind of that detailed cost breakdown," Gleason said. "We're expecting some numbers back from our architecture firms within the next two weeks, so I’m hoping to give something back to council here by the end of this month, and then something a little more public next month."
Depending on how the numbers shake out, Junior Theatre could end up in an existing building, or something new. Whatever the City chooses, Sheridan said the show will go on.
"Something I can tell you about the Junior Theatre community is everyone is practical," Sheridan said. "Willing to work hard, solution-oriented. I mean, look at the campus we’re at now and how we have made that work. The community can make spaces work, and we’re ready to put in that effort, as soon as the City kind of figures out the beacon that we need to follow."
Gleason said the City wants to decide on a new location in the next two months. That will give time to negotiate contracts and perform any upgrades on the new space. The program will start moving out in March, but it has to be completely moved out by June.