Next act: Grandstreet Theatre readies for upgrades to building

Grandstreet Theatre, Helena's longtime provider of all things theatrical, is undergoing improvements to upgrade its building to make the experience even more entertaining and pleasant for patrons.

This includes relocating the box office within the 325 N. Park Ave. building, installing new lighting trusses, new carpeting and upgrading the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.

Work will begin in November and the theater, now celebrating its 51st season, is slated to reopen in April. However, this year’s holiday show, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” will move just down the street to the Civic Center for its Dec. 11-13 performances.

“It's a little chaotic, but it's really exciting,” said Danielle Wineman, the theater’s managing director.

The work is being done through the theater’s Act II Campaign to raise $1.5 million, which launched about a year ago.

“One of the big pillars of this capital campaign was to do a lot of the updates to our building and some kind of dreams that we have envisioned for our building,” Wineman said.

She said the campaign has raised $950,000 so far, noting the Act II Campaign Committee played a major role. Grandstreet is still seeking contributions. The projects at one point were not going to be done at the same time, but they connected enough and the theater was decided to close the building briefly.

“We need to get all of these done,” Wineman said.

Wineman said the improvements are being paid through some “incredible” contributions and grants such as the Treacy Foundation and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana Blue Impact Grant. She told Hometown Helena on Thursday that Grandstreet has a $1.3 million budget and has a $4 million economic impact on Helena.

She said the scheduling of the work to the building started with Grandstreet's season planning. They eagerly awaited for licensing for “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” to become available, and when it did, “we jumped on it and we kept looking at how we wanted to structure the Christmas show this year.”

They already had the Civic Center booked for “A Christmas Carol” and decided to offer “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” there instead.

“And as we sat back and looked at the calendar, it became this beautiful, perfect time to do all of the renovations that we had been hoping for and wanting for,” Wineman said.

“And so thanks to the team at Slate Architecture, we decided to move forward with getting all of our projects done at once," she added. "...It's going to be a big lift and a lot happening."

The box office will be moved to the other side of the lobby, which will give patrons access to the downstairs and restrooms prior to the shows.

The updates to the HVAC system include a furnace, which will then allow the radiators now in the aisles to be removed make for wider aisles, Wineman said.

Carpeting will be updated. A metal skeletal lighting truss structure will be installed that will allow Grandstreet to put lights on that truss rather than on the wooden beams.

“We want to make sure that we're being the best stewards of our building as possible,” Wineman said, noting the building is 127 years old. “Some of those beams were not really meant for the lights that we have.”

The building was built as a Unitarian Church in 1901, and early documents indicated it was intended as a multi-use facility, according to the Grandstreet website.

The Romanesque granite building was donated to the city in 1933 with the caveat that it continue to serve the public. The city turned the building into the library. In 1976, it was leased out to Grandstreet, which had started the year prior.

Wineman said they believe they were able to restore the theater to what it was like as a church.

“It was a wild-looking library,” she joked.

She said Grandstreet has been working with the historical preservation groups to make sure that none of the updates to the 200-seat theater interfere with any of the original parts of the building.

They have also worked with Slate Architecture and Morrison-Maierle to make sure the designs being put in place honor the character and the charm of the building.

She said the new lobby will “still feel exactly like it has always meant to be this way.”

Other shows, such as “Swing State” (Sept. 11-13) and "Clue" (Oct. 9-25) will be performed at Grandstreet prior to the construction.

Shows will return to the theater in April with the musical “Come From Away,” which runs April 16-May 2. Grandstreet produces eight shows a year.

The improvements to the theater come as Grandstreet caps off its summer theater camp, in which 260 students participated over a two-week period.

She said some of the theater schools fill up within 24 hours of registration opening.

The camps have drawn kids from other states such as California, Nevada and Michigan. A lot of the students are kids of former students, Wineman said.

“And as much as it is a theater camp, I think it's probably the most human camp you can go to,” she said. You're being silly, you're learning how to work with others and collaborate.”

Wineman jokingly said it’s kind of the “weirdo camp.”

“You get to be weird and you get to have fun and be silly and, you know, try new things,” she said.

“This is the camp where you get to put your phone away,” Wineman said. She added it calls on students to learn how to talk with people.

Grandstreet also has a year-round theater school which is more Helena-centric.

Wineman noted the Montana Accessible Communications now sponsors American Sign Language performances for the entire season at Grandstreet.

“So, there's an entire group of our community that now has access to coming to the theater because we offer performances like that,” Wineman said.

She said Grandstreet will likely “take a breath for a second” once construction wraps up but wants to continue finding ways to open its doors wider for the community.

“We're constantly finding ways to innovate and expand and explore what throwing our doors open wider can look like,” she said.

To donate to Grandstreet's Act II campaign, go to: https://grandstreettheatrehelena.ludus.com/donate or contact Wineman at danielle@grandstreettheatre.com.