UPAC RENOVATIONS
$4 million project at Midtown theater expected to be completed by November
Renovations are underway at the Ulster Performing Arts Center in Midtown and are expected to be completed by November.
The theater will be closed until the work is done, according to a sign on its marquee.
Kingston Deputy Fire Chief Tom Tiano, who heads the city’s Building Safety Division, said a permit was issued May 25 to allow the renovations. He said UPAC, which is owned by the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie, is getting updates to its heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, as well as electrical work, roof repairs and changes to its plumbing fixtures. Also, a two-story addition is being built in the courtyard area at the rear of the theater building. It will house new dressing rooms and bathrooms, Tiano said Wednesday.
Tiano said the project is estimated to cost $4 million, according to the building permit.
The main contractor listed on the permit is the firm Daniel O’Connell’s Sons, which has an office in Kingston. Rondout Electric of Highland and Ashley Mechanical of Kingston also are listed as contractors.
Chris Silva, executive director of the Bardavon, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Earlier this year, Silva said talks were being held with potential investors who could help UPAC make improvements at its theater in exchange for tax in-
centives. It was not immediately known Wednesday whether an investor had been secured.
Karl Slovin, president of MWest Holdings, which owns the Hutton Brickyards property along the Hudson River in Kingston, said his company is not an investor in the UPAC work.
The Hutton site hosted
two Bob Dylan concerts this past weekend that were put on by the Bardavon.
Bardavon officials had been seeking a private investor to help fund part of a planned $4.7 million renovation of UPAC, which is at 601 Broadway in Kingston.
The investor was to be asked to put up $1.4 million of the necessary funding, while the remaining $3.3 million already had been set aside by the Bardavon, according to previously provided information.
The plan called for the
Bardavon to establish a forprofit entity, called UPAC LLC that would allow an investor to get tax credits for the renovation work. After the renovations, according to the plan, UPAC would return to not-for-profit status.
The investor would temporarily become 99 percent owner of UPAC and be able to access state and federal historic credits for at least five years, but the Bardavon would continue to operate the 1,500-seat Midtown theater.