In construction, we don’t just work with concrete and steel, but with hope and dreams.
— Jackie “The Jackhammer” Jackson
On April 29th, 2016 the Reif Center reopened after an $11 million renovation that added over 15,000 square feet and renovated another 36,000 square feet. And it all began with, “Can’t we add a second women’s bathroom?”
We soon found out it’s not that easy! After that initial thought, the Reif Center board canvassed the Grand Rapids community, GRHS Band and Choir programs, the Reif Center staff and our community arts partners, the Grand Rapids Players and the Itasca Orchestra and Strings Program. The universal response was to raise our ambitions and try to get everything we needed to retain the Reif Center’s position as the premier performing arts center in the Northland for the next 40 years! Our list included raising the fly loft, adding a studio theater, improving the dressing rooms, adding a laundry room, replacing the seats in the Wilcox, upgraded stage lighting, more backstage storage and of course an expanded lobby and more bathrooms!
I remember David Marty taking this architectural model to so many meetings! If you look closely, you’ll see that the top of the fly tower came off to show how it would look if we didn’t get the money to raise the roof! You can imagine getting funding for a project this large is very difficult, there were many times David had to fight to keep in the new Studio Theater or the fly loft as the budget grew tight.
Without the extended fly tower we wouldn’t have had touring productions of Spamalot, Saturday Night Fever and Rock of Ages. Without the fly tower we wouldn’t have the amazing drops for our annual production of The Nutcracker along with so many other local productions.
Without the Ives Studio theater, we wouldn’t have our Theater Arts program that regularly engages over 80 local kids in productions, and our overall programming would be lessened. The Wilcox stage is used so frequently that we couldn’t have expanded our programming, unless we had another space for rehearsals! We probably wouldn’t have a Senior Series or a Cozy Concert series either, without a more intimate venue for programs that won’t fill the Wilcox. The Ives Studio is also very much in demand for in-service training, meetings and seminars. There are so many afternoons when every nook and cranny in the Reif is filled with performances, theater and dance rehearsals and meetings.
The Reif Center Board created a planning committee that deliberated on everything from soil mitigation to the color of the carpet. I was at many meetings of the planning committee, but they attended almost all of them!
The Planning Committee also had extensive advisory support from George Sutton, who was the co-founder of The Jungle Theater in Minneapolis and is a past member of the Minnesota State Arts Board.
The funding for the Reif Center renovations came from many sources. Almost $2.3 million from individuals and regional businesses and $2.7 million from foundations, primarily the Blandin Foundation. Political consultant Loren Solberg helped shepherd the renovation project through the Minnesota legislature to receive $3.9 million in a bonding bill with another $2.3 million from other public sources.
With funding secured, architectural drawings complete, and construction documents approved, it was time to begin construction. But the groundbreaking was just the end of the beginning. We were in for a bumpy ride!
On April 6th, 2015 we held a groundbreaking ceremony and the next day we began moving out! I think we filled three or four 40’ container units with curtains, orchestra shell, props, set pieces and display cases. All the old storage areas were being renovated so it all had to go! Office furniture went to our temporary offices at Blandin Paper, lighting equipment to the Greenway Auditorium, and shop tools and equipment went to the Grand Rapids Players building behind the fairgrounds.
I’m not quite sure why, but after we got moved out it took 3-4 weeks before demolition began. It may have been related to one of the bigger bumps in the road early on. We discovered that when the high school was built construction debris was dumped and buried on the future site of the Reif Center. That was an unexpected expense, and the time to dig out the old soil and debris and replace it with good gravel was an unexpected delay.
David Marty and ISD 318’s director of Buildings and Grounds, Rod Leistikow, were the ones who worked most closely with the contractors to solve the soil mitigation problem and any other “surprises.” Again, lots and lots of meetings! All in all, all the delays added up to the grand reopening being delayed by about two months! We quickly rescheduled what performances we could, cancelled others, and extended our “Reif on the Road” series. Operating out of the Grand Rapids Player’s building we built sets and stored equipment that couldn’t be stored at the temporary office.
We went on the road taking performances to Bigfork, Aitkin, Hibbing and Bemidji. We did our Reif Dance productions of The Nutcracker and Jungle Book at the Greenway Auditorium in Coleraine. We even made use of local churches, presenting a one woman show about the “unsinkable” women of the Titanic at the Community Presbyterian Church!
As the new reopening date approached, the crew really had to hustle. Our storage container units came back to the Reif, but we couldn’t unload them because construction still wasn’t complete. I remember unloading a few things into the shop, then they had to move to the Wilcox, then to the Ives, keeping one step ahead of whatever space the construction workers needed next! We continued to operate out of those storage containers for a couple of months after the official reopening.
April 29th, 2016, the day of the open house was frenetic. Construction was still going on in some areas, and it was dirty and dusty. It was day of the Open House and we still didn’t have our official occupancy permit for the public to be in the building! In fact, when the band department brought a bunch of students over to help, we had to send them away! Still, it was exciting to feel like we were finally getting our building back!
We had staff and board members scattered through the building to answer questions and show off our new building! We finished off with some great music from the High School Jazz Band! As usual I was the last person to leave.
I’d like to close Part 1 of Reif Renovations with some thoughts from Alliiance Architect’s Peter Schroeder and Amber Sausen on this 10-year anniversary.
“David Marty and the committee of board members and volunteers involved in the building project brought professionalism, passion, and a spirit of service for the Grand Rapids community. Their engagement was key in shepherding ideas both big and small—from theater patron flow, advocacy for the orchestra program, supporting the thriving dance school, and supporting back of house technical and scene shop needs.
I remember the team working so hard to be ready for the open house on April 29th 2016. The Reif team had the great idea to provide custom logo dust cloths saying “please excuse our mess” and invited visitors to contribute to the final spiff-up of the building. It reflected the spirit of community that made the entire project possible and invited attendees to be a part of the project in a fun and easy way.
Peter and I send our warmest wishes to you and the entire Reif crew as you celebrate this exciting milestone!”
Stay tuned for Part 2 of Reif Renovations in 2 months, when I’ll share some before, during, and after pictures of the renovations. I have many more stories to tell!
