A long-awaited dream for local arts lovers is finally set to take center stage this weekend.
The A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Center for the Performing Arts and the Richard and Jane Manoogian Art Gallery officially opens Saturday, May 16, ushering in a new era for live performance and visual art along Jefferson Avenue in Grosse Pointe Park.
After years of planning and construction — along with more than $50 million and several construction hiccups and a major delay last year — the nearly 50,000-square-foot center is ready to welcome the public with a grand opening gala scheduled for Saturday night, followed by a celebratory Sunday afternoon matinee.
Each event is designed to showcase the building, the arts groups that will call it home, and the community that helped make it happen.
The opening events are more than just a ribbon-cutting, however. Saturday night is expected to be a grand, black tie gala. And Sunday afternoon will be a festive, open-house-style gathering, bringing together artists, supporters and neighbors to mark the debut of what leaders describe as a new cultural gathering place for the region.
Guests will be treated to a special, collaborative, live performance created by the Grosse Pointe Theatre and the Grosse Pointe Symphony Orchestra, giving audiences a taste of the kind of programming envisioned for the space. Concessions will be available during the event, and attendees are encouraged to explore the building and connect with the people behind the project.
A new home for the arts
Located at 15001 East Jefferson Ave., near the Detroit border, the Schaap Center was designed as both a performing arts hub and a visual arts destination. Inside, visitors will find a state-of-the-art theater with more than 400 seats, built to accommodate everything from theater and orchestral performances to community events.
In the works since 2012, the project has finally come to fruition, said Jaime Ray Turnbull.
Turnbull boarded the project in 2020, became executive director of the Center, and has now taken an advisory role, helping close the Center’s $50 million capital campaign, which is currently at $46 million.
“We really feel strongly that when the doors open, we’ll be able to close the campaign with giving,” she said, “because our community has really embraced what this is going to represent — not only for the arts organizations, for the community in the area.
“It’s a regional story, and (will) have an economic impact on the Jefferson corridor. That’s very important to us, to kind of tie in everything from Belle Isle to Pewabic Pottery, The Shepherd, the War Memorial, Ford House.
“We have this remarkable business corridor. Now, we just need restaurants and other things to start filling up and keeping residents that are in this area with places to dine, shop, and find entertainment at an affordable price. Our ticket prices are $50 to attend a show, so it’s pretty incredible.”
A long time coming
The facility will become home to many organizations, including Grosse Pointe Theatre, Grosse Pointe Symphony, Detroit Concert Choir and more.
“Detroit Opera is going to do things here,” Turnbull said. “Mosaic Youth Theatre, Detroit Symphony — it’s remarkable. Our opening night, we have some of our program partners that are going to perform, as well as at our matinee (the next day), which is a $50 ticket. With this remarkable lineup of performers, it’s going to be pretty special.”
The center also includes the Richard and Jane Manoogian Art Gallery, which opens alongside the performing arts space. During the grand opening, visitors can view a curated collection of early American art, along with a special sculpture exhibition presented in partnership with the Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum.
“Because of their interest in art, having a gallery associated with our performing arts was of interest to them, so they’ve been good donors,” said Schaap. “In the beginning, it’s going to be their collection on exhibit. As we get more programmed, there will be other, rotating private collections. They’re very excited to having their art on loan, and they’ve been generous to name the gallery.”
Two sculptures loaned by the Detroit Institute of Arts also will be on prominent display within the Center’s atrium.
Together, the performance and gallery spaces reflect the Schaap Center’s stated mission: to serve as a place of public fellowship and gathering centered on accessibility, inclusion, and high-quality arts experiences.
The Schaap Center’s opening marks a major milestone for Grosse Pointe Park and the surrounding region. Backed by a multimillion-dollar fundraising effort, the project has been in development for years and is widely seen as a significant new investment in the local arts ecosystem during a time when many performing arts centers around the United States are closing.
For audiences, that means more chances to catch theater, music and visual art close to home. And for artists, it offers a brand-new space designed specifically with performance and presentation in mind.
Schaap was adamant that praise be given to architect Ray Cekauskas, who agreed to design the venue on the condition that he meet with each performing arts partner and learn their needs and concerns. The results show clearly, with warm-up rooms, a studio workshop and huge, luxurious dressing and green rooms (complete with showers!) for performers.
Schaap was involved through the entire process.
“When I was a high school student,” he said, “I worked at a lumberyard and was involved in construction and design. I almost went into architecture rather than chemistry. When this was just starting, there was (just) a construction trailer. And, every Wednesday, at 2 o’clock, I would go to the construction meeting in the trailer.”
“Now, the meetings are here (in the Center),” said Turnbull. “He’s still going.”
Because of this, flooding and standing water will also not be an issue on the grounds.
“One of the things we invested in,” said Schaap, “was storm water retention and management. You can imagine all the rainwater that would be collected on that pavement there in the back, on the roof … And if we simply send that down the sewer into Detroit, it would be coming up in basements all over the place.
“Well, it won’t, because all the rainwater is collected in what’s called a detention system under the parking lot. There are round barrels — big, big, big things — where the water can collect. It gets into a big pipe that goes to the corner, and then diagonally into a big pipe that goes down the median, between the lanes. And down that median until it meets a bigger pipe, all on Jefferson. That pipe goes out into Lake St. Clair.”
The huge investment, he said, is making use of the stormwater system Grosse Pointe Park put in years ago.
“We tapped into it,” he said.
A heated front walk with valet parking also will take care of accessibility issues during Michigan’s often harsh winter weather.
Opening the doors
While this weekend’s events mark the official opening, it’s also meant as an invitation: Organizers say the matinee is a chance for the broader community to step inside, see what the Schaap Center offers, and imagine how the space might be used in the months and years ahead.
The Schaap Center is an intimate-feeling, midsize venue with stellar acoustics; where there’s not a bad seat in the house, and the facility was designed specifically for performers. For Grosse Pointe and the east side, it’s the start of a new chapter — one where the arts have a bright, permanent spotlight.
For tickets and more info, go to schaapcenter.org.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: After years in the making, $50M+ Schaap Center opens this weekend
Reporting by Duante Beddingfield, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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