Gift Opens Act 2 For New Arena Stage

The design by Bing Thom, who is based in Vancouver, B.C., wraps the structure in 50-foot-high windows that look out on Maine Avenue and Sixth Street SW. He designed a common lobby for all three theaters and topped the building with a single roof, with one edge pointing directly toward the Washington Monument. "It is just not a theater complex to see performances, but it's a theater complex that opens itself to the community," Thom said.

Pending the completion of construction bids and a financial package, officials said they hope to start building in 12 to 24 months and complete the project by the fall 2009 season.

Arena's plans call for the show to go on during construction.

Smith said they are thinking of phasing in the work.

"It is a complicated building. Also, in terms of phasing, we want to stay here in Southwest, and we would be performing in the Kreeger while they were working on the Fichlander. We want the audiences to be able to come down while we are building, and have hard-hat tours, and hard-hat matinees," Smith said. Arena has run a budgetary surplus in seven of the eight years that Smith has been at the theater.

The news that Arena had achieved 85 percent of its campaign goal was a relief to its administrators, as well as the theater community. The latter had worried about Arena's long silence since it decided to stay in Southwest in 1999 and expand its space. Arena, founded more than 50 years ago, has been located in Southwest for 47 years. Stanley Jackson, deputy mayor for planning and economic development, said the project was a prime example of the value of the arts and economic renaissance in the Southwest neighborhood.

"This is the launch of the public phase of the campaign. Although we haven't been CIA-quiet, we have not gone out to our subscribers. It's been a limited scope so far," said Stephen Richard, Arena's executive director. The theater needs to raise an additional $20 million in the campaign, including a dedicated $5 million to add to its endowment.

Smith said she was relieved she could now talk about the gift, a development applauded by actors Robert Prosky and Brad Oscar at the ceremony.

"That kind of match excited our donors and they wanted to join with the Meads," Smith said. "That generosity really started it.

"The Meads are visionaries," she continued. "They had an idea that this was something that could and needed to be done."