Arts partners excited about forthcoming ‘world-class’ Schaap Center

GROSSE POINTE SHORES/PARK — Several local and regional arts organizations could be finding a home for themselves in the forthcoming A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Center for the Performing Arts and the Richard and Jane Manoogian Art Gallery in Grosse Pointe Park.

Potential art partners gathered Feb. 28 at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House Visitors Center in Grosse Pointe Shores for a presentation about the project. The Schaap Center will be the performance home for the Detroit Concert Choir, Grosse Pointe Theatre, Grosse Pointe Symphony Orchestra and Grosse Pointe Community Chorus, and center officials are also in talks with several other community organizations about partnerships: Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Medical Orchestra, Detroit Public Television, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, The Carr Center and The Sphinx Organization.

For the Grosse Pointe-based performance groups, in particular, having a place where they’ll be able to stage concerts and plays is a huge development, given the cost of building such a venue and the lack of space to put one in an older, developed community like the Pointes.

“We are homeless organizations trying to survive, and (now) we can thrive,” said Theresa Selvaggio, director of development for GPT.

The Schaap Center will be constructed on property adjacent to Grosse Pointe Park City Hall and will be partially in Detroit and partially in the Park. Jaime Rae Turnbull, interim executive director of the Schaap Center, said the 49,000-square-foot building will be situated on 2.4 acres.

“The Schaap Center is going to be a remarkable regional art center,” Turnbull said.

She said it will feature a 424-seat theater with a starry night ceiling, wood panels and a hydraulically adjustable stage that can be expanded outward to accommodate a play with a large cast or set. The art gallery will feature works from the Manoogians’ personal fine art collection.

“It’s DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts) quality and will rotate on a regular basis,” Turnbull said.

She said there will also be a community gallery for other art displays.

As of Feb. 28, Turnbull said they had raised more than $39 million toward their goal of $45 million to pay for the construction. In addition, she said they had raised more than $6 million toward an endowment, “which is going to make sure the Schaap Center is here for a very long time.”

She said the project is expected to drive other improvements and economic growth.

“The architecture is stunning, and it’s really going to enhance that area,” Turnbull said.

Business leaders say the center will be a needed shot in the arm for the community.

“This Schaap Center is going to be a game changer for the Grosse Pointes, for our businesses that are struggling to stay open,” Grosse Pointe Chamber of Commerce President Jennifer Palms Boettcher said. “Thank you for making Grosse Pointe that much more of a destination.”

Stan Harr, board president and associate conductor of the Detroit Concert Choir, said Paul Schaap and the architects have worked closely with the arts organizations to make sure the center will meet their varied needs.

“Everybody’s been so gracious,” Harr said. “The goal is to do it right.”

When the Detroit Concert Choir asked for a second piano for the green room, Harr said officials with the center readily agreed.

He said the performance space will have tunable acoustics so that the acoustics will be the most appropriate for whatever type of performance is taking place. Harr said the acoustics can be altered by readjusting curtains and panels on the walls.

“The acoustics for theater and symphony and choir are all different,” Paul Schaap said.

GPT is celebrating its 75th anniversary this season. For 55 years, GPT Board President Danielle Caralis said, they considered The War Memorial in Grosse Pointe Farms their performance home. That all changed when The War Memorial decided to renovate its theater about five years ago — resulting not only in loss of the space during the construction process but essentially in a permanent loss of the space because the new theater had about 200 fewer seats, which wouldn’t be able to accommodate crowds of 400 or more for GPT’s most popular shows. Since then, GPT has only managed to continue putting on plays because schools and churches in the Grosse Pointes have allowed it to rent their auditoriums or other spaces. GPT officials say they’re grateful for the support they’ve gotten but note that scheduling a season has been a challenge because they can only use these other spaces when they’re available, and moving from venue to venue for each show has been confusing for patrons.

“The Schaap Center will allow us to spread our wings creatively,” Caralis said.

Schaap has spared no expense, including agreeing to build a trap door for the stage — an addition that necessitated the addition of a basement for the building.

William Hulsker, a bassoonist and board president of the Grosse Pointe Symphony Orchestra, was thrilled about the building as well.

“This hall is like a dream come true for us,” Hulsker said.

“I really appreciate the way we were able to work with some of the designers to let them know what we needed,” Hulsker continued.

The facility will be equipped with audiovisual equipment that will be shared among the partner arts groups, which Hulsker said will enable them to livestream performances and record them for archival purposes.

The orchestra will have space to store large instruments in the building, including five timpani and the bass drum, Hulsker said.

“We couldn’t be more excited about this world-class performing arts center,” Harr said.

Julie McFarland, the DIA’s executive director for public affairs and community engagement, said she could see the DIA offering programming at the Schaap Center.

“As part of the (tri-county) millage, we have a mission to get out into the community,” McFarland said.

Paul Schaap, one of the major donors behind this project, was moved by what he heard from representatives of the arts organizations at the presentation.

“The only word that came to mind was ‘humbling,’ to see all the passion of these folks and the work they put in,” Schaap said.

The project involves the center’s acquisition and use of the Park’s former Department of Public Works building as well as parcels in Detroit owned by the Park.

Grosse Pointe Park City Manager Nick Sizeland said he anticipated the city would be transferring properties to Schaap Center officials and closing on the transaction by the end of this week. Sizeland said Schaap Center officials would be applying with the city for a permit to tear down the old DPW, which will also be paid for by the Schaap Center, not the city.

Construction fencing was put up around the site at the end of February, Sizeland said.

A groundbreaking hadn’t been set as of press time but is expected to happen sometime this spring, after the old DPW has been torn down and the site has been cleared. The Schaap Center is expected to open in 2025.