Dramatic Results

Reborn Artesia Theater Gets Ready for its Close-Up

By Michele Van Haecke

The Ocotillo Performing Arts Center will provide residents of Artesia, N.M. with a space for business conferences, regional performances and local events. Photo courtesy Jaynes Corp.

While modest in size, the $4.5 million, 19,000-sq-ft Ocotillo Performing Arts Center packs a lot of punch. The drama unfolds as crews renovate a circa-1930's building into a modern and sophisticated venue.

Imagination is the component that makes good performances great.

As it turns out, it does the same for theater remodeling projects.

Imagination and a great deal of sweat are helping a team of architects, contractors and artists deliver a grand performance in Artesia, N.M., where the group is transforming a 1930s movie house into a 21st Century performing arts hub.

When completed in August, the $4.5 million Ocotillo Performing Arts Center will boast custom stadium seating for 200, high-tech audio-visual equipment and walls sculpted to deliver precise acoustical penetration.

The owner is the Artesia Arts Council, a nonprofit organization that includes the local theater group and chorale that until now has had no permanent home. In 2001, the group purchased the 1935 movie theater, used as a cafeteria since the 1950s, and planned a $1 million remodel of the 10,000-sq-ft space. That changed when the building next door became available and the group started thinking big.

“We planned the center not only to benefit the Arts Council but to benefit the whole community,” says Anne Hollinger, who’s worked with the group about 20 years and is currently serving her fourth presidential term. “We’ve come a long way, baby.”

The group expanded the theater to double as a venue for business conferences, regional performances and local events. It purchased building number two, did some serious fund-raising and in September 2003 began the initial phase of the project to stabilize the building and install new heating, cooling and electrical systems.

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The final renovation phase to turn the buiding into a modern theater began in earnest in September 2007. Albuquerque architect Devendra Contractor, who has previous theater construction experience, collaborated with theater design specialists on the design of the now 19,000-sq-ft project.

While the design preserves the Spanish mission façade and other historical elements, it focuses on function. “We looked at it as providing a small albeit world-class theater for Artesia,” says architectural project manager Melanie Shelor.

Before sophisticated theater systems could be constructed, the buildings had to be stripped to their bones, reinforced and upgraded. Walls would be removed and added. The original, sloped theater floor would be recovered by tearing up concrete fill.

Though Shelor had no previous experience with theater design, she knew what to expect. “Once you start demolishing all that retrofit inside of that big shell, there is a lot of revelation of structural things that you weren’t aware of,” she says. “The fact that it’s a renovation means you never know what you’re going to get until you start peeling away the layers.”

The job of peeling fell to the Albuquerque office of Jaynes Corp., the project’s general contractor. Working with about 20 subs and specialty consultants, the team quickly discovered the project’s bittersweet nature.

“Whenever you get into a remodeling project, you expect to find issues,” says project manager Thomas Thomsen. “When you’re remodeling a building from the 1930s or 40s, the challenges are exponentially greater.”

Workers discovered holes in the walls, crumbling masonry and prebuilding code no-no’s. They had to measure every inch of the place to get reliable dimensions.

A 20-ft wall scheduled for removal turned out to be load bearing. Removing sections of brittle clay brick, the team had to work around pilasters every 13 ft. Asbestos was removed, as was 95% of the wiring, before heating was upgraded. The team added 2-by-12s to every joist in one deteriorating roof.

And work had to be coordinated in a busy downtown site. “We’ve spent a lot of extra effort on scheduling,” says Thomsen, who like Shelor lacks theater experience but knows remodeling. “You never expect everything to go perfectly.”

At the end of the five-month demolition, Thomsen moved on to construction. San Francisco-based Shellac Collaborative, which specializes in theater work, guided design of the stage, rigging, audio-visual layout, catwalks and lighting. An acoustician laid out the acoustic ‘cloud’, comprised of bent birchwood reflectors which are suspended from the ceiling, and 2-in. wood strips tacked to walls to direct sound.

The specialists also designed the parterre, which may look like identical plush, red velvet rows but is actually a complex of unique seats precisely staggered and angled to ensure sight lines.

State-of-the-art equipment and theater specialists don’t come cheap. After finishes such as stone flooring for the lobby and a $200,000 wraparound digital marquee, the budget is tight. But exposed brick, black steel and unstained concrete give the space a surprisingly sophisticated atmosphere, Shelor says. “It’s a really refined finish combined with a raw, techie feel,” she adds. “That’s intriguing.”

Budget constraints also dictate the design plans now for later upgrades that include a staircase and elevator to an upstairs reception area and expansion of the fly tower, the specialized overhead area through which rigging, sets and other equipment are “flown” in and out of the stage.

Backstage areas will also be left in the rough for now, Hollinger says. “We’d very much like to seek funds from outside the community so we can complete the building as planned,” she adds. “This is a little bit beyond bake sales.”

Key Players

Owner: Artesia Arts Council
Architect: Devendra Contractor
Other Design: Shellac Collaborative
General Contractor: Jaynes Corp.
Subcontractors: F&R Painting; Hughes & Associates; J&G Electric Co.; Les File Drywall; Southwest Glass & Glazing; Jaynes Structures

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