West Herr Performing Arts Center

PROJECT RESTOURATION is transforming West Herr Performing Arts Center into a multistage, beautifully restored 1920s-era complex of unbelievable quality and craftsmanship. Phase One of restoration and renovation is underway, focusing on enhanced accessibility, adaptability, and amenities. Hear from our architects and designers and take a look at our vision.

This week on The Broadway Report, RBTL CEO Arnie Rothschild talks to host Joe Lomonaco about what West Herr Performing Arts Center and PROJECT RESTOURATION will mean for Rochester. Listen on SoundCloud: https://buff.ly/48JRflL

Officially introducing: West Herr Auditorium Theatre & Performing Arts Center We are excited to unveil a brand-new sign identifying our building and signaling the start of PROJECT RESTOURATION, RBTL's multi-year restoration project. Learn more about PROJECT RESTOURATION at WestHerrPAC.org, and follow us @WestHerrPAC on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn. Thank you to Ulrich Sign Company Inc. for their hard work and incredible craftsmanship.

Revitalization efforts are in full swing at West Herr Performing Arts Center. Design and architectural teams are consistently developing plans and adapting renderings, which include improvements to venue accessibility, adaptability, and amenities. RBTL’s vision is to create a true multi-stage performing arts center for downtown Rochester. It will be a vast and complicated undertaking, focusing on melding patron expectations of today’s theatre experience while preserving the amazing and unduplicatable architecture of the ornate venue. While both beautiful and historic, the Auditorium Complex as it sits comes with many challenges. RBTL has teamed up with Pike Construction Services, LaBella Associates, and other community advisors to augment the existing spaces in the most optimal way.

In June 2024, RBTL unveiled a refurbished elevator and newly created crossover point, which now offer long overdue access between the second floor of West Herr Performing Arts Center and the second-floor lobby of West Herr Auditorium Theatre. Previously, the two entities had only connected on the main level. Also unveiled in the second-floor Theatre lobby was a new all-gender/family restroom. Refurbishment of a second elevator and the creation of a new second-floor Theatre lounge space (featuring new men's and women's restrooms) have also begun.

In March 2024, celebrating a year of Auditorium Complex ownership, the Rochester Broadway Theatre League announced the development of a Performing Arts Center Fundraising Committee. Co-chaired by Dan Burns (M&T Bank) and Trish Nilsen (NYSEG/RG&E), this group of well-known and influential Rochesterians is tasked with securing funds for the continuing renovation and restoration efforts at West Herr Performing Arts Center. The project will be funded by a combination of capital campaigns, sponsorships, operating surplus, state and local grants, foundations, and other aid. Fundraising Committee member bios are available here: https://buff.ly/3YCN8mL

In August 2023, RBTL and West Herr Auto Group announced a new partnership, renaming Rochester's former Auditorium Complex on East Main Street the "West Herr Performing Arts Center" and the Theatre portion the "West Herr Auditorium Theatre." The Rochester Broadway Theatre League continues ownership and operation of both entities. The partnership will support ongoing renovation efforts, which include enhanced patron access and amenities, wider lobby spaces, elevator access to the second-floor Theatre lobby, and revitalization of rarely-before-seen ceremonial spaces.

The Rochester Broadway Theatre League (RBTL) has owned and operated the Theatre portion of Rochester's Auditorium Complex since 2004. In February 2023, RBTL purchased the remainder of the building (formerly the Auditorium Center), with plans to transform it into a Performing Arts Center that would serve the entire Greater Rochester community. Restoration and revitalization of this historic building is underway with a completion goal of 2030, the centennial of the structure.