A community theater that burned to the ground in 2021 is starting work on a new home. This Saturday, Triumvirate Theater will break ground on its new building, a 150-seat theater in the City of Kenai.
Triumvirate President Joe Rizzo is excited about what the building means for the youth-focused nonprofit theater company.
“It’s gonna be the beginning of a new era for Triumvirate Theatre,” he said. “We’re gonna have a beautiful performing arts building right in the heart of Kenai, and kids for generations are going to be able to develop their talents and find out who they are.”
Triumvirate has been without a space since February 2021, when a fire razed the group’s Nikiski-based auto shop-turned-performance space. But now, more than two years and a documentary later, a new place is taking shape.
The Saturday groundbreaking event will feature cinnamon rolls, musical performances, kids with shovels, and speeches from local politicians. U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski is expected to make an appearance.
As for the building, Rizzo said some dirt work may happen this fall, and by next May construction should be underway. The building is set to be complete by the end of 2024.
The multi-million dollar building is going on a two-acre piece of land donated by the City of Kenai near Daubenspeck Park.
“Usually when you fundraise to do a capital project, you go out to foundations and you get 60 or 70% of the money, then you go to your community and have them raise the rest,” Rizzo explained. “Because of the way this played out, with the fire, we kind of did it backwards.”
He said Triumvirate raised about half a million dollars from local fundraising and grants, then turned to larger foundations, advertising the grassroots effort. The theater got a million from the Rasmuson Foundation, a million from the USDA through Murkowski’s office, and hundreds of thousands from other organizations.
Rizzo said having a new physical theater will make a big difference for the company, which has been rehearsing and performing in borrowed spaces since the fire.
“You absolutely have to have a facility to run a theater program effectively,” he said. “I mean, lots of theater programs run without it, but not ones that affect as many kids as Triumvirate does.”
But he also said the new theater will offer some simple upgrades over the old space, like more seats, and backstage dressing rooms.
“In the old place, the kids would be in the bathroom with the patrons, putting on their makeup while patrons were trying to use the facilities,” he said. “So this will be nice, because the actors will actually have their own facilities backstage.”
The groundbreaking event is at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19 at the new site of Triumvirate theater: 450 Marathon Road in Kenai.
