Grand clubs lobby for performing arts venue

Two Sun City Grand clubs want community officials to move center stage the idea of building a new performing arts auditorium in the community.

"We have a very active drama club and a very active music club," said Tom Piemme, Drama Club president and a prime mover in the push for the auditorium.

The Board of Directors of the Sun City Grand Community Association will decide whether to pursue the proposal at next week's regular meeting.

If the board passes a motion for a feasibility study, it would allow a third party look into the matter, said John Such, board president.

"We're so far down from having this thing come to fruition," he said. "(The feasibility study) permits us to get a third party there to see if the city would even allow us to have it."

The idea for the auditorium was spurred by members of the community's Drama and Comedy Club and Music Club, Piemme said.

The clubs stage about five dramatic performances and between 15 to 20 musical events per year in the Sagebrush Ballroom in the Sonoran Plaza, which has about 350 seats normally and removable room dividers that create an area that can accommodate up to 600 people.

For that reason, Piemme said a facility designed specifically for performing arts is needed.

"(We perform) in an auditorium constructed for meetings, social events, but it is barely adequate for performing arts," he said. "We have very little in terms of wing space to store set pieces, we have a small dressing room in a broom closet. The seats and the seating space have to be assembled and disassembled, assembled and disassembled because the room is used for so many other things."

Piemme envisions a theater in the new fine arts building large enough to seat about 500 people. The theater would be built next to the Palm Center, where additional parking would not be needed because that area - the activities center of the community - has adequate parking.

The cost for the facility, while preliminary, is estimated around $3 million, Piemme said. The funding would be raised through donations and would not come from residents' pockets.

"It is anticipated that it would be raised entirely from donations from private corporations and individual contributions," he said. "We feel we can raise the money. There is no intent whatsoever to take money from the residents."

The auditorium could be a potential money-generator for the community, Piemme said.

"It would be available for outside groups to lease as well, to present entertainment to the community," he said. "There is very little option in the West Valley for companies seeking theater space."

"It would bring in revenue, enough revenue to maintain a theater on a regular basis."

Such said the board is in the information-gathering phase regarding the auditorium, which would be constructed to accommodate other groups in addition to the performing arts clubs.

"If it ever came to fruition, we'd use it for meetings, presentations and other things," Such said.

The board will discuss the issue at its regular meeting at 7 p.m. July 24 in the Sagebrush Ballroom.

Erin Turner may be reached at 623-876-2522 or eturner@yourwestvalley.com.