While much of the focus of Shea’s Performing Arts Center expansion has been on the main theater itself and its 710 Theatre, there are plans now underway for a major change to Shea’s Smith Theatre as well.
Work has already started on the nearly $5 million worth of renovation work at the Shea’s 710 Theatre, and the $15 million, 20,000-square-foot expansion of Shea’s Performing Arts Center could start later this year.
Under consideration is a project that could both stabilize the circa-1910 era Smith Theatre and also add five floors to house a series of apartments and artists’ lofts whose tenants could be visiting performers and crew members from touring productions at one of the three Shea’s downtown Theatre District venues.
If that Smith Theatre expansion moves forward, it will increase Shea’s ongoing renovation projects from the $30 million range to the $50 million range.
Shea’s President and CEO Brian Higgins is confident the complete expansion project will move forward.
“We're looking to raise $50 million, Shea’s Smith has to be addressed, given its age, and given its structural challenges,” Higgins said.
Higgins says repairs and renovations to the Smith Theatre are not something that can be pushed off and down the road. The two-story buildings definitely need some TLC.
“We don't know what residential form it will take, but we're thinking that if we're going to be doing reconstruction in the building anyhow, there's precedent for it. I mentioned the building on Elmwood Avenue between Bidwell and Potomac, which gives you a sense of what is possible. Now we may not go up, but we're going to have to address the problem of the existing structure,” Higgins said.
Shea’s attracts more than 350,000 people into downtown Buffalo annually and has a yearly economic impact of at least $100 million in the central business district, according to data compiled by the theater.
The goal is to increase the number of patrons visiting one of the Shea’s theaters and to increase its impact not only on downtown but the entire region. One example is having MusicalFare anchor the 710 Theatre with more than 100 performances annually - that alone could bring in at least another 30,000 people into the Theatre District and downtown, with many coming from the suburbs.
Higgins’ goal is to have Shea’s in use at least 300 days a year. He thinks spinoff programming benefits will run deep.
The Shea’s 710 Theatre renovations should be completed by September.
