Dairy Center’s next phase to be fun, architect says

BOULDER — The Dairy Center for the Arts expects to complete the third phase of its four-phase renovation program in the summer 2000 with the completion of the art gallery and a 265-seat dance theater.

The center, which houses 15 different arts organizations, has raised and invested more than $2.5 million in the renovation of the old dairy building.

Stephen Sparn, lead architect for the renovation plan with Stephen Sparn & Associates in Boulder, said this third phase of development is actually the fun part of the redesign.

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“We’ve completed the infrastructure requirements,” he said. “These were all important but didn’t add to the glamour of the Dairy.”

In this phase, the art gallery will be completed. The entrance will be finished, and full security will be added.

Originally built in 1970 as a processing and storage facility for dairy products, the 40,000-square-foot building at 26th and Walnut streets in Boulder operated as a dairy manufacturing center until 1989.

At that time the building was abandoned, said Catherine Underhill, executive director of the Dairy Center for the Arts.

The center houses six arts disciplines under one roof: dance, music, theater, literary, visual and media arts. As an arts organization, it now welcomes about 300 visitors a day, she said.

The basement area, under a third of the building, is home to Peak Arts, the umbrella organization of the Boulder Philharmonic, the Boulder Ballet and Boulder Arts and Development.

Currently, the center houses two theaters, a dance rehearsal area, recital hall, six music studios, a community television and production space and a 1,600-square-foot gallery.

Renovation of the industrial building began in 1996 with a capital campaign. The first phase concentrated on repairing basic systems including heating, electrical components and replacing 60 percent of the roof.

In the summer 1998, new interior spaces were built along with a $250,000 parking lot that included asphalt, striping and lighting.

In this next phase of development, about $500,000 will be invested in the building. The lobby area will be completed outside two theaters, and a new dance performance theater will be built.

The center also hopes to add a café to the lobby and enclose the art gallery. All the finishes will be added to the building including flooring, lighting and wall coverings.

“It will be a very elegant gallery with a glass corner,” Sparn said. “We’ve created a glass wraparound corner of the gallery with 21-foot-tall wall of glass which allows you to look in from the lobby.

“We perceive the lobby as the center of town, or the plaza” for the 15 different arts groups, he said. It will feature a stained concrete floor with a large rug and comfortable living room-type furniture.

“This will be a place for people to mingle,” he said.

Leonard Thomas, an architect with Communication Arts, also has provided time to the renovation project.

Other local companies that are helping with the building include the Broomfield-based Wall Technology and the Boulder-based Robinson Mechanical. Robinson Mechanical donated $100,000 of equipment to the renovation last year, Sparn said.

Underhill said the final phase of the renovation will include the redesign of the 26th Street facade with more glass, doors, a terrace and a box office.

By summer 2001, the center’s renovation should be entirely completed, Underhill said.

“It’s functioning now, but some interior spaces are on the raw side,” she said.

The new dance performance space to be built next summer will help fill a niche in the community, she said. No other dance performance area here meets this space requirement, she said.

A big part of the Dairy Center’s mission is to offer affordable space to arts organizations. Groups pay $7.50 per square foot including utilities for the use of space in the building, she said.

Underhill said about 60 percent of the center’s budget comes from rentals, while other funds come from three major events sponsored by the center each year, plus grants and donations from individuals, corporations and foundations.