This $250,000 award is the first of two Dater Foundation grants in support of the project. An additional $200,000 grant was made in April 2024.
Program Goals:
TCT launched its $48M “A Crown for the Queen City” campaign in the fall of 2021 with three main goals: the first, reimagining and restoring The Emery Theater as TCT’s permanent MainStage home and a state-of-the-art venue for the region. With The Emery as its new home, TCT can achieve its second goal: expand its programming to unlock TCT’s potential to inspire diverse audiences with original works and innovative programming. The campaign’s third goal was to create an endowment to sustain TCT’s impact for generations to come so that The Emery Theater is preserved forever.
The installation of world-class theatrical systems will make The Emery the most technologically advanced theater in the region and put TCT on the map, not only for its exceptional productions but also for its state-of-the-art performance venue. A 20' x 20' turntable stage lift, projection mapping, an automated fly system, and a video wall are all part of the design and the transformation of the theater.
Making The Emery’s its MainStage permanent home will allow TCT to meet its second goal of providing increased impact for the families and children of Cincinnati. With the availability and flexibility of the space, programming would also be expanded for younger children and teenagers, original works, newer works that would be considered revenue-risky in its current rented space, and an increase in the general ability of TCT to expand runs of hit shows.
The campaign’s third goal of building an endowment fund will mean that The Emery will be preserved forever and ensures that TCT can continue to provide arts access to families and to students, filling the gap left by the reduction of arts education across the region for generations to come.
For TCT, acquiring and transforming The Emery is a win-win; giving the historically significant theater new life as a state-of-the-art performance venue and unlocking TCT’s full potential to teach and inspire a wide and diverse audience. TCT at The Emery will be a crowning achievement for our city’s vibrancy and a beacon of shared experience for the next generation of arts patrons.
Short term Impact
• Create approximately 100 FTE construction jobs over the 15-month construction period. In addition, TCT is committed to an inclusive project, with economic inclusion goals for MBE/WBE/SBE contractors.
• Create a permanent home for the nation’s oldest professional theatre for young audiences.
• Create a theater with state-of-the-art technology unlike anything in the region.
Intermediate Impact
• Year-round programming will allow more time to market productions effectively and to expand runs for productions showing great success.
• Year-round programming will allow for significantly increased ticket subsidies for schools that currently only have access to our productions for 20 days annually.
• Participation in the revitalization of OTR, historic preservation, and economic growth as families dine and shop in conjunction with TCT productions.
• TCT will continue an intentional focus on diversity in casting and production crews as well as an increase in audience diversity.
• The new theater will allow for new programming for younger children and teenagers, original works, and newer works.
• Increase in property values in OTR as a result of renovating the Emery.
Long-Term Impact
• The technology associated with the theater, and the quality of productions as a result, will elevate TCT to the #1 children’s theatre in the country.
• Year-round programming will draw increased visitors to Cincinnati contributing to ongoing tourism revenue.
• All children in our community, regardless of ability, race, gender, or socioeconomic background, will have access to the magic of live theatre and will see themselves represented on stage and in all aspects of theatre.
• Revitalize an important asset in the heart of the region for future generations, leading to additional visits and ancillary spending in and around the facility at local restaurants, bars, and retail establishments.
• 87% of TCT’s public MainStage attendees surveyed indicate they participate in other activities downtown in conjunction with TCT’s productions, with 34% of these indicating this activity to be dining downtown.
• Assuming a conservative $15 per person price point, this translates to more than $186,000 in revenue to local restaurants in just eight weekends currently. Using the same calculation applied to potential year-round programming, this number increases to close to $500,000 annually.
• Preservation of a landmark building strengthens the historic fabric of downtown.
Results (as of one year after the grant was made):
The Children’s Theatre has a long history of philanthropic support from many well-known and influential local philanthropists. This campaign has seen tremendous momentum and community support from those invested in TCT, supporters of historic preservation, and those invested in the continued revitalization of Over-The-Rhine. Total funds for construction raised to date are $46,568,945. An additional $1,000,000 has been committed for the endowment to sustain the theater in the future. Assuming we do not use the additional owner's contingency, we have roughly $4.8M left to raise.
The Emery Theater campaign has seen tremendous support, not just from those who are engaged with TCT, but also those who support historic preservation as well as the continued revitalization of Over-the-Rhine. Support from public funds was also impressive with the project receiving a $1M TIF District Grant from the City of Cincinnati, two State Capital Budget allocations totaling $1,170,000, and net equity of almost $9M from New Markets and Federal Historic Tax Credits.
The start of our construction was delayed due to construction delays on the apartments and requirements pertaining to federal historic tax credits. The National Parks Service required that we submit the entire building (including the apartments) with our application. Thus, we had to wait until construction on the apartments was complete so that we could submit the building with the finished apartments as an existing condition. Delays in the apartment construction pushed our timing back as a result. This actually worked to our advantage, however, as federal tax credit awards are more likely the closer the project is to being fully funded. The additional time allowed us to get closer to the project funding goal, thus strengthening our application.
We are on target to achieving all of the original short-term goals associated with this project in terms of the number of construction jobs created and the creation of a state-of-the-art theater unlike anything in the region. TCT officially purchased the theater on December 22, 2023, and began construction in February of 2024, realizing the goal of creating a permanent home for TCT.
We anticipate construction to be substantially complete in the late summer of 2025 and plan to open with our first production in October of 2025.
: July 2023
