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Times are changing at the Maine Center for the Arts. A renovation project, already in progress, promises to make the MCA a state-of-the-art cultural facility.
The MCA is home to the Hudson Museum, which occupies much of the lobby, and the Hutchins Concert Hall, which has staged the likes of Art Garfunkel, Peter, Paul and Mary and most recently the Three Mo’ Tenors.
Last week, the board of trustees and interim President Robert Kennedy approved the proposed idea to raise $10 million to fund major renovations to one of the state’s major art facilities.
President Kennedy recently appointed Kassie Stevens Walker, a Bangor attorney, to head up the project. The effort has raised $3.5 million in just the last year alone.
Walker said Kennedy has made it a top priority to see that the plan happens. She also says that $2.5 million of the $10 million may come from a bond that Maine citizens will vote on next June.
The question on the ballot may be whether or not to allocate money to facilities in the state to bring them up to compliance with the America Disabilities Act, which was passed after the MCA was built. The MCA is currently not in ADA compliance but is not required to be since it was built in 1986.
“One of the major issues is that [the MCA] is not ADA compliant,” said Hudson Museum Director Gretchen Faulkner. “This will allow for wheelchair seating at a variety of places within the hall.”
The actual structure of the building will be changed on both the outside and the inside. The front of the building will be transformed into a glass atrium, which will hold the museum shop and the box office. The glass will extend up all three floors, allowing people to view the inside of the building from the street.
“The windows will allow you to see what’s going on,” said Faulkner, who has been with the MCA since it opened in 1986.
The MCA is home to both the concert hall and the Hudson museum. As current plans stand, the museum will be moved, in its entirety, to the second level of the building. The current ramp will lead up to the entrance of the museum but not extend any further than that.
“Today if you go in, you can see [the Hudson Museum] is in corners, it’s in walkways, it’s just sort of scattered around the open spaces that are available,” Faulkner said. “By doing this the museum will have identity. It will have integrity, and it will be located on one level.”
The museum has about 10,000 square feet of exhibition space right now.
“In the new plan rather than having eight or nine, little exhibit galleries, we’re looking at having three principal exhibit areas,” Faulkner said.
The museum houses a temporary exhibit area and a world culture gallery, which features collections that are solely non-western, the only museum in Maine to do so. With renovations, a Maine gallery will be in the center, and there will be two visible galleries from the street. One of them will be devoted to the Palmer collection and the other to Maine archaeology material.
“Visitors, students will be able to learn how we know what we know,” Faulkner said. “We’ll have hands on activities that teach them.”
Plans also include a cafe and call for the first floor lobby to be opened up. One of the most common complaints, particularly among women says, Faulkner, is the lack of restroom facilities. The architect’s proposed building a larger women’s room where it already exists, and relocating the men’s room to the opposite side of the building.
A new VIP conference room will also be added, as well as a new lounge area, which will be equipped with a pantry and a bar to allow for catering in the building.
A projector will be installed on the third floor, so the museum’s theater will be able to show films.
Although there will be a net loss in the number of seats in the theater due to two side isles in the middle of the seating, Faulkner suggests that having multiple shows of each performer will compensate for that.
“The good thing is, you’ll have the same leg room you have now, people really enjoy that leg room that’s in there,” Faulkner said.
There will also be a bigger stage when the project is finished.
“The stage is very small,” Faulkner said. “It is narrow and it’s not very deep so for performances, particularly dance, it’s really tight to work on.”
Backstage dressing rooms, restroom facilities, storage space and office space will be added as well.
“The renovation will really bring the hall up to date,” Faulkner said. “[They] will allow the MCA to continue to attract, nationally recognized groups traveling in the area.”
The renovation will require the MCA to shut down sometime in the future.
“It’s going to be closed somewhere between 15 and 18 months at some point in the future and then we will come to a glorious new opening,” Faulkner said. “But it’s not clear right now what the time frame is. It’s contingent on fundraising.”
The MCA is not ready to shut down just yet. They have a full slate of programs and shows currently scheduled for the next year.
“It won’t be this year, but it won’t take ten years,” Walker said.
“The concept is one venue, two stages,” she said. “That’s a good way to look at it, anthropological, cultural artifacts, belong with opera, symphony, drama, rock, flute rock … Jethro Tull sold out in about an hour,” she said, laughing.
While the fundraising efforts are moving right along, there is still a way to go before the $10 million goal is reached. When the money is available the renovations will begin.
“It’s the Lincoln Center,” Walker said. “It’s the Smithsonian. It’s the very best of what Maine has to offer.”
