LANSING — City officials celebrated the completion of one half of a project designed to create a space for creativity and the arts in the city’s downtown on May 29.
The ribbon cutting on Friday at 500 S. Washington Ave. honored the new home for the Lansing Public Media Center and the new offices for the staff of the city’s new Ovation Center for Music and Arts, marking the end of a $3 million renovation of the property.
Mayor Andy Schor and other officials attended.
About 20 people will work at the renovated building, a former Lake Trust Credit Union property previously used for document storage. It will house podcast and music recording studios available for public use, along with recording equipment as part of the new home for Lansing Public Media Center, a community resource housing video equipment and music and podcast studios available for use by the public.
The building renovation comes just a week before concrete footings go in the ground and the foundation is poured for the 49,000-square-foot Ovation on adjacent property, Dominic Cochran, Ovation’s founding director, said.
“We were very surprised and thrilled at the turnout,” Cochran said after Friday’s event. “It was more than we expected. It just felt good to tell everyone that the foundation is getting poured next week. It was a great day. The building looked really good.”
Ovation is expected to be fully enclosed by the end of November.
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Officials aim to finish the approximately $32 million project, which includes the property purchase, the center’s construction and the renovation of the existing building, by the end of June 2027. It could open its doors by August of 2027.
The facility’s largest space will accommodate 2,100 people for concerts and events, about 1,450 people if everyone is seated. A smaller room will house 250 people, Cochran said.
An additional space inside Ovation will be built for use by a restaurant as well, he said.
Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X @GrecoatLSJ.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: $3M renovation for new Lansing Public Media Center celebrated
Reporting by Rachel Greco, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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