COLORADO SPRINGS — Today, the Downtown Review Board approved a measure 6-0 to renovate and expand the Colorado Springs Auditorium by 7,000 square feet.
"We've done, very quietly, a momentous thing, I think," said Vice Chair of the Downtown Review Board Jim Raughton.
The renovations are expected to cost $52.9 million. The Colorado Springs Community Cultural Commission is a non-profit planning on running and updating the building. They haven't secured the funding yet, but they expect to receive it from public grants, tax dollars, private donations, and funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, otherwise known as ARPA.
The renovations are going to include changes to the seating, allowing them to be raised up and down for different events.
"The current facility is about 35,000 feet, and we're proposing significant interior modifications as well as the south side of the building, which will take it's square footage to just over 100,000," said architect with Semple Brown Nathan Gulash.
The south side addition will expand into a parking lot to allow for room backstage, dressing rooms, and other necessities to hold medium-sized events.
"You've got spaces that will afford opportunities for education, as well as conferences, as well as ongoing performances," said CEO and President of the Colorado Springs Community Cultural Collective.
Raughton is very excited that the renovations will keep the current architectural style throughout the building.
"We're in a period of dramatic change within the city. and this is one of those things where we honor our past while accommodating the new future of the city," said Raughton.
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