New Capital Rep home financing ‘complex’
Theater sought funding from multiple agencies over past several years
Capital Repertory Theatre’s decade-long journey to a new home entailed scouting more than two dozen potential spots to buy, including one only four blocks north of the 111 N. Pearl St. facility that the theater had rented since 1981.
The Rep initially rejected that nearby 28,000-square-foot brick building, at 251 N. Pearl. Since the 1860s it has housed a bakery, refrigeration company and electrical contractor. Though two and a half times the size of the original theater, it was in poor shape. Worse, support columns throughout would have to be removed to allow for good sight lines in the new theater, and the estimate for the fresh steel required to hold up the ceiling and support the theater from below ran to more than $1 million all by itself.
And so, about five years ago, The Rep walked away from 251 N. Pearl. But the Albany Housing Authority’s then-director, Steven Longo, suggested approaching
New York Homes and Community Renewal, the state’s affordable-housing agency, which was a funder for AHA’S $146 million, multiyear renovation to its Ida Yarbrough Homes apartment towers, located across the street from 251 N. Pearl, and to nearby townhomes.
The Rep agreed to provide promotions, programming, workforce development and other benefits and opportunities for AHA residents. In exchange, the state awarded The Rep’s new facility $2 million from its Community Investment Fund, which gives grants to strengthen neigh
borhoods surrounding substantial HCR investments in housing.
“We couldn’t have done this project without that money,” said Philip Morris, CEO of Schenectady-based Proctors Collaborative, which since 2013 has been The Rep’s parent organization. Though it is unlikely to host live performances for some months, until pandemic restrictions ease, the new Capital Repertory Theatre is essentially complete. It was officially introduced to the media, public and business officials, select patrons and other stakeholders on Wednesday.
Though the theater’s steel girders and trusses were now paid for, the journey to the final $14.2 million needed to get the doors open was just beginning.
Since arriving to take over Proctors, 19 years ago this month, Morris has led three capital projects totaling about $80 million, at Proctors, The Rep and another affiliate, Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs. Prior to moving to the Capital Region, Morris directed two other capital projects, in western New York, that totaled another $10 million.
Of the five, “The Rep’s was the single most complicated,” Morris said.
In addition to the HCR funds from the state, The Rep received another $2.5 million in public funds through the state and city of Albany, $2.6 million in historic tax credits for its preservation of aspects of the new building and another $5 million in private money from 366 donors. At the top of that list is Harold Iselin, board chair of The Rep, and his wife, Lauren, with $500,000; the new facility’s Lauren and Harold Iselin Performing Arts Studio has a capacity for up to 100 for performances and will also be used as rehearsal space.
Other top donors include arts philanthropists Chet and Karen Opalka, longtime supporters of The Rep, who donated more than $250,000. At their request, it was dedicated to the new facility’s facilities — i.e., the public restrooms. There are 14 public toilets now, up from six at the old theater.
“This is important and all,” said Chet Opalka, indicating the new performance space while seated near the stage during Wednesday’s introductory event. “But,” he said, “others things are important, too, and you can’t forget those.”