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A Grand Idea Evolves in Tracy
The city is converting a row of
buildings into a performing arts center that is expected to
open in early 2007
By J.T. Long
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Photo courtesy of ELS Architecture
and Urban Design.
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The city of Tracy (population 80,000) is looking back to
its roots in an attempt to bring downtown into the future.
General contractor McFadden Construction of Stockton is converting
four brick buildings into the Grand Theatre Center for the
Arts.
The oldest of the four buildings, dating from the early 1900s,
was Tracy's first firehouse.
"We are trying to maintain the old style and preserve
the hand-carved columns while bringing the building up to
code," said Paul Furbush, McFadden's senior project manager.
The $12.2-million project includes a 36,000-sq.-ft. visual
and performing arts center, 550-seat proscenium theater, dance
studio, music studio, ceramics studio, children's art space
and concession area.
The job wasn't easy, said Gregory True, project manager of
Berkeley-based ELS Architecture and Urban Design.
"In some parts, all that was left of what was at one
time a 1923 vaudeville house was a memory in the minds of
some old timers," he said.
The theater, purchased by Tracy in 2002, was originally built
for vaudeville shows. It was remodeled into a movie house
in the 1940s. The theater closed its doors in 1977, and was
used as a storage facility. Little remains of the interior
of the theater except ornamental plasterwork on the walls.
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Rendering courtesy
of ELS Architecture and Urban Design.
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Construction began in June and is scheduled to be completed
in February 2007.
The general contractor and architect are both veterans of
theater restorations. McFadden recently renovated the $10-million
Fox (now called the Bob Hope Theater) in Stockton and ELS
designed the $50-million San Jose Opera House.
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A Grand Idea Evolves in Tracy>>
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