The Kate's Expansion Is Built to Keep Its Main Theater Small

One Tuesday, a Metropolitan Opera encore screening was booked at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center on the same day Suzanne Vega's crew needed to load in equipment for her shows. There was only one room to do both in. "We ended up moving The Met encore, which we hate doing, because it was hard to turn down that opportunity to have Vega come back to the space," executive director Brett Elliott told Zip06.

That scheduling clash explains the whole $11.3 million project Old Saybrook voters backed on Sept. 29. The two-story addition planned beside 300 Main Street adds no seats to the theater. It's meant to take everything else off the theater's stage, so the 284-seat room can spend more nights doing what it does best.

One Stage, Too Many Jobs

The Kate opened in the former town hall in 2009. Elliott told Zip06 that the original idea was probably one show a week or every other week. These days, he said, "there's nearly something happening every night."

The building was never designed for that pace, and a few details show where it strains:

• Paint-and-sip nights take over the main stage. It's the only space in the building that fits 25 people at tables, so the theater goes offline for those evenings.
• There's no elevator to the stage. The stage is on the second floor, and Elliott said every piece of equipment ever seen on it "has come up either stairs or ramps."
• The office is still sized for two people. The Kate now has 10 full-time employees working in the same office space it had when it opened with two.
• The teen camp runs somewhere else. Kate's Camp for Kids, for ages 5 to 10, drew around 300 children last summer. The Summer Spotlight camp for ages 11 to 13 drew around 100 and runs out of the local middle school. Because of that, the state treats it as a second camp license, which means a second camp director and a second first aid person.

Each of these takes time or space away from the room that sells tickets. The addition gives each of them its own space.

What the New Wing Holds

The design comes from Centerbrook Architects. The Kate's project page describes a two-story, 7,500-square-foot addition built around four flexible multi-use rooms. When the second-floor rooms are joined, they become a second event space for acoustic concerts, lectures, dance and smaller performances.

Zip06 reported the new performance space at 90 seats. The plan presented to the Zoning Commission on Sept. 21 put it at 96. That plan also lists expanded museum space, upgraded backstage and loading areas, new interior stairs and a freight elevator. Architect Todd Andrews of Centerbrook told commissioners the building will stand 30 feet tall and was designed to fit with the historic building next to it.

That second room fixes the Met-versus-Vega problem. A flat floor with no drop at the front of the stage is where paint-and-sip belongs, and Elliott said that frees the theater for "something in the theater as well." The Kate expects audiences to grow by 30 to 35 percent.

The Room That Stays Exactly As It Is

Through all of this, the main theater keeps its 284 seats. Elliott admitted to Zip06 that he sometimes wishes for more:

"Do I sometimes wish I had 50 or 100 more seats so I could get a slightly larger act or that act I'd been really after? Sure. That is a true story. But I do recognize it is a very intimate, very wonderful, very comfortable space. We heard repeatedly (from the public): don't change that."

The only change the theater might see is new seats. Elliott said the Kate may try to raise more than its goal to pay for a refresh after nearly 20 years. The $7 million capital campaign sets aside $5 million for the building and $2 million for a Future Fund to pay for programs in the new space. Zip06 reported about $5.2 million raised as of mid-October.

Six Votes Over Six Months

The project passed through every board it needed to, and none of the votes were close. The town posts the record of each step: the Board of Selectmen minutes, Planning Commission minutes, Architectural Review Board minutes, and the Zoning Commission minutes from Sept. 9 and Sept. 21.

The building itself is town-owned. According to Zip06's referendum coverage, the same ballot approved up to $5.2 million for the public works garage at 477 Middlesex Turnpike by a much wider margin, 1,237–209. First Selectman Carl Fortuna said both projects could start construction this winter.

What Main Street Is Being Asked to Absorb

If the addition brings in a third more people, those people need somewhere to park, and that's where the town attached its conditions. The Architectural Review Board noted that the Town Hall lot will lose three spaces to the extension. At a preliminary zoning discussion in June, the Kate's team pointed to 199 spaces in nearby public parking against a regulatory requirement of 94.

The Zoning Commission's Sept. 21 approval came with three conditions:

1. Before zoning compliance is issued, the Kate must give the commission copies of its parking agreements with Grace Church and the Porter Shopping Plaza.
2. When artist vehicles are parked in the driveway between the Kate and 288 Main Street, cones or other visual barriers must keep patrons from trying to drive in.
3. If the state Department of Transportation approves Phase II crosswalks linking the Kate to the parking lot across Main Street, the Kate will look into added measures to alert drivers before and after events. The minutes mention handheld flags or a staff member pushing the crosswalk button.

The crosswalk itself was still awaiting final approval when the commission voted. The minutes also note that the septic system will be relocated and the sidewalk reconfigured as part of the site work, which Caroline Nanai of Indigo Land Design presented.

The Old Room Carries the Winter

The Kate says construction should begin in late 2026 or early 2027 and take about 12 months. Elliott told Zip06 the start is more likely early 2027. The theater stays open throughout. The Kate says any temporary street changes will be coordinated with the town and any schedule changes will be announced well in advance.

That means this holiday season runs entirely in the 284-seat room, on the schedule the addition is meant to ease. Here are some of the listings on the Kate's events calendar for the weeks ahead:

• Sunday, Nov. 8, 1 p.m.: "Revolutionary Acts: Women's Suffrage, the Hepburns, and America's Founding Ideals," a museum talk
• Thursday, Nov. 12: A Star Is Born from 1954 in the afternoon, Tinsley Ellis that evening
• Friday, Nov. 20: a Met in HD encore of Carmen at noon, then Hollywood Nights at 8 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 24: two showings of Little Women from 1933
• Dec. 1 and 2: The Irish Tenors' "A Family Christmas"
• Saturday, Dec. 12: a Met encore of The Magic Flute at noon, CT Gay Men's Chorus "Fruitcake" at 8:30 p.m.
• Sunday, Dec. 20: Messiah Sing or Listen in the afternoon, Jon McLaughlin that evening
• Dec. 30 and 31: the Best of Boston Comedy Festival

Nov. 20 and Dec. 12 each pair a midday Met screening with an evening show, the same mix of opera encore and touring act that collided over Suzanne Vega's load-in. The Kate's calendar is live and can change, so check a date there before you buy tickets. The Kate also estimates that each patron visit brings about $34 in spending at nearby restaurants and shops, roughly $3 million a year along Main Street.

Teri Lewis keeps a close eye on Main Street in Old Saybrook, from votes at town hall to new curtain times at the Kate. If living within walking distance of 300 Main Street matters to you, Teri Lewis can tell you what each block looks like on a show night. Request a Concierge Consultation.