Shakespeare Theatre Hopeful on Timetable

Harman Hall on Schedule for '07 Opening

The Shakespeare Theatre Company announced yesterday that its second home, a 776-seat theater on F Street NW, will open right on schedule Oct. 1, 2007.

The new Sidney Harman Hall, named for its main benefactor, will feature a repertory style of presentation twice a year, Artistic Director Michael Kahn announced. In a weekend, a theatergoer will be able to see two plays at the Harman, then attend a third production at the Lansburgh Theatre -- the company's current home -- to get a sampling of the classics.

Shakespeare Theatre officials also said they are still raising money for the new complex, the price tag for which has increased from $77 million to $85 million.The company has $55 million and needs about $30 million more, said Landon Butler, chairman of the theater's board of trustees. "It is a slow process, but we achieved the $55 million about six to eight weeks ago," Butler said.

Butler said the fact that the construction is on time and that officials can show a structure that is beginning to look like a theater will greatly help the fundraising efforts. "You constantly fight the question of 'Will they make it?' I think now that they can actually see it -- that will be a big factor. It is tangible," Butler said.

The 11-story building is co-owned by the Shakespeare and the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, with the theater company occupying the first five stories. Harman, whose fortune comes from manufacturing high-end audio equipment, initially gave the project $19.5 million in 2003. Yesterday, Butler announced that the Harman family, whose name will anchor both theaters as the Harman Center for the Arts, had pledged an additional $5 million in a challenge grant.

Yesterday's announcements were made in two phases, starting with a champagne breakfast at a restaurant in Verizon Center. Shortly before 10, Kahn raised his champagne flute to toast the progress, the preferred way to start a news conference. The audience then moved across the street to the construction site and sat in a huge concrete hall that will eventually be the state-of-the-art theater.

Designed to be a multipurpose space, the hall also will be a venue for local dance and music companies.

The collaboration of the arts groups will make the city an arts destination, Kahn said. "Washington has a cultural life second to none. In a city that can't keep any secrets, we have managed to keep the culture life a secret," said Kahn, pledging to change that status.

Against the din of construction work, D.C. Council Chairman Linda Cropp gave another message the audience wanted to hear: that the building would be another catalyst in the downtown revival. The company moved to Seventh Street in 1992, when the less-than-safe area was empty at night. Now, the theater alone brings 250,000 people a year into the area.

"Shakespeare helped spark the renaissance of Washington's historic business district," Cropp said. The city gave the Shakespeare $20 million for the expansion project.

Cropp said the city's investment will pay off astronomically.

"The total financial impact of the Harman Center over the next 10 years will exceed $351 million. Over 10 years, the total maximum impact of the tax revenue will be approximately $24 million," said Cropp, citing a study done by Bay Area Economics of Silver Spring. She had to compete with the construction noise to make her points. "That is just the boom of progress," she said.

Standing on a concrete balcony, Helen Carey, a frequent performer with the company, read from "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and Floyd King, a prominent local actor, recited five lines from "Henry VI, Part III."

Looking down at what will be the stage and the pit, King shouted out: "For here, I hope, begins our lasting joy."