Valley needs new arts center

The status of the performing arts in Anchorage in the 1950s was very similar to what is occurring right now 50 years later here in our gorgeous Valley.

Anchorage talent and need outgrew their space, as present-day Valley talent and need has outgrown our own. The lack of appropriate facilities holds back a community, fights against the feeling of pride-of-place, restricts creativity, delays promise and puts off fun for those who follow at some other time.

In the early 1950s, Anchorage Community Theater, launched by Frank Brink, was pretty much confined to church basements, tiny rented halls or, in some cases, a small and old high-school auditorium. Fine plays, well- presented, were clearly stifled because of space limitations and pathetic staging facilities. And so was all other activity needing ample seating for an event.

When the old downtown Anchorage High burned in 1952, one small and vital auditorium vanished in moments. Leaning against a birch tree not too far away, I listened to the strings twang in the fire on the concert grand piano the Anchorage Concert Association had just purchased. A very sad sound was forever etched in my memory. And one more vital public meeting place was lost.

When West High on Hillcrest Drive opened in 1953, the pulse of the community rose in joyful enthusiasm. At last a fine stage finally became available, some of the time, for quality productions of all sorts, but only when not in use by the high-school programs.

A fantastic open house tour excited hundreds as we saw and smelled that sparkling new auditorium which could seat more than 1,200, and on good seats. At last, here was a place to do some big things in and for the community. The fabulous stage, a Brink design, was first-rate rigging for those times. It changed the city. And to this day, West High auditorium is a vital and viable facility.

Shortly after, the original Sydney Laurence Auditorium was built downtown, and as I recall, on property now occupied by the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. Then the city in general, and the Anchorage Community Theater in particular, suddenly had two sites in which major events could be held.

When those two sites were busy, as was frequently the case, there was always the large basement of the All Saints Episcopal Church. That is where Brink presented Down in the Valley and his own No Name Town.

In the early summer of 1953, ACT was able to stage great performances of South Pacific because facility now matched talent. It was a town-changing show, presented in one of the image-improving theaters. It was taken on tour to Kodiak. It was fun for all of us. It helped make the performing arts in the city blossom. It was a turning point for community spirit. It helped develop our pride-of-place.

Today, these same sorts of settings and limitations are visible here in the Valley. The Valley Performing Arts is launching its 25th season with Sholem Aleichems Fiddler on the Roof. It is a stellar performance presented by some of the most talented and determined community-gifting people to be found.

Those involved invest endless energy toward improving the quality of life in the Valley. But now, it is our community which has a space glitch. And that need affects our own pride-of-place and sense of community.

Out Valley needs a centrally located, top-quality meeting facility and performing arts center, able to seat between 700 and 1,200 people who could face a fully rigged stage.

In it, conferences, local and touring concerts, plays, graduations, lectures and all sort of civic events could, at last, have a home which by its very existence would improve the quality of life for all of us.

The need is right here. The need is right now. The funding could and would be found in due time. That is one of the exciting community efforts with which many of us would eagerly become involved. Many in our community have been ready to get the show on the road for some time. So wed better help.

What we need is a tax-free, nonprofit entity to serve as the destination for dollars. Meaning, a safe, nonpolitical place where caring individuals, groups, businesses, foundations and other major contributors could send their money for this purpose. A place where every dollar would be appropriately managed by a volunteer board of directors which has both the desire and the vision necessary to make the tree blossom and produce fruit.

How this is done is no mystery. Growing communities all across the nation have taken on this sort of action and we can too. It is timely. It is not overly ambitious. It does not need to be difficult.

So lets just do it now.

Charles Reynolds is the Frontiersmans theater critic. He lives in Palmer.