BREAKING: County approves new Joshua Tree Performing Arts Center expansion plans

PRESS RELEASE
 
Contact: Hi-Desert Cultural Center
info@hidesertculturalcenter.org
 
Release date: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
 
BREAKING: County approves new Joshua Tree Performing Arts Center expansion plans
 
JOSHUA TREE, CA — The County of San Bernardino has approved the extensive renovation and expansion plans for the Hi-Desert Cultural Center’s iconic regional performing arts venue in Joshua Tree.  Carrying its new name, Joshua Tree Performing Arts Center, the landmark theater has undergone a multi-yearlong planning and design process to expand and modernize the historic structure, while continuing to honor and retain its original Joshua Tree aesthetic.  The architectural plans for the Joshua Tree National Park region’s flagship performance venue will feature a greatly widened ground floor for expanded audience seating for ~300 patrons, an added second story mezzanine complete with luxury box seating, a near doubling of the stage width, added fly space, state-of-the-art video, sound, lighting, and theatrical technologies that are environmentally conscious, and accessibility brought up to today’s ADA standards, among other major enhancements.
 
“The dramatic transformation of this time-honored building became ever-increasingly more involved the deeper we got into the planning requirements and patron needs, and it took highly creative solutions and a great deal more time than anticipated to meet our objectives,” stated Jarrod Radnich, Hi-Desert Cultural Center volunteer and board president.  “With the steadfast efforts of Clint Stoker of Stoker Construction helping to navigate the exacting planning approval process, this long-awaited and exciting news was the final linchpin needed for us to be able to begin the construction process.”
 
Coming up on the June 8th celebration for the First Anniversary of the opening of the Cultural Center’s new Yucca Valley Visual & Performing Arts Center, which has taken the visual arts world by storm, the Cultural Center will soon also announce a celebration of the groundbreaking for its new Joshua Tree Performing Arts Center.
 
Joshua Tree is an area renowned for its music and art, and soon this Southern California arts bohemia will have a world-class venue that reflects it.  The re-envisioned venue will have an organic sophistication in design detail, incorporating architectural design cues from its stunning native desert landscape and famous starry night skies.  It has been important to the Cultural Center leadership that the design be in sync stylistically with the region and that it have impeccable acoustics for live concerts.  Balancing the historical perspective, it was also important to make sure that the original stage itself remain in place, albeit greatly expanded, and that the building’s front façade keep its general silhouette and historic front porch and entry, which originally adorned the mansion of California’s first governor.
 
“The construction schedule is going to be intense.  In addition to much of the surrounding parking areas being inaccessible due to construction, the parking lots themselves are going to be in turmoil—not only because they will be replaced, but because the local water district will also be replacing a main service line directly underneath them that feeds Downtown Joshua Tree,” continued Radnich.  “Because it is impossible to know construction schedules at this point, and because we do not want to be in the position of postponing construction crews or canceling performances, we will be idling back production this coming season and shifting some programming to our beautiful visual and performing arts center in Yucca Valley.” 
 
Significant donor naming and recognition opportunities are available for the new Joshua Tree Performing Arts Center, and local contractors and artists are encouraged to contact Stoker Construction for bidding opportunities as they are released.  For more information on the Hi-Desert Cultural Center, visit www.HiDesertCulturalCenter.org, join the Cultural Center’s e-newsletter mailing list, or send an email to info@hidesertculturalcenter.org.  For more information or to contact Stoker Construction, Inc., visit www.StokerInc.com
 
The Hi-Desert Cultural Center is a GuideStar “Gold Status” non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that serves as the regional visual and performing arts organization and arts agency for the communities of Joshua Tree National Park.
 
PHOTO CAPTION 1: 3D artist rendering of the inside of the new Joshua Tree Performing Arts Center as taken from its new second story mezzanine.
 
PHOTO CAPTION 2: 3D artist rendering of the inside of the new Joshua Tree Performing Arts Center as taken from its newly widened stage.
 
PHOTO CAPTION 3: 3D artist rendering of the inside of the new Joshua Tree Performing Arts Center as taken from its new foyer.
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ABOUT HI-DESERT CULTURAL CENTER
With its multi-venue performing and visual arts centers located in Joshua Tree and Yucca Valley, California, the Hi-Desert Cultural Center (HDCC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation (Federal Tax ID# 23-7425816) that has been serving as the regional performing and visual arts organization and arts agency for the communities of Joshua Tree National Park for more than half a century.  The Cultural Center owns and operates its own performance venues and facilities and produces award-winning community and professional live theater, concerts, art exhibits and galleries, festivals, the Joshua Tree Philharmonic symphony orchestra, a master chorus, an artist residency for veterans, an extensive educational arts and technology academy program for youth and adults, and more.  The Cultural Center is the largest and oldest non-profit arts organization in the region with several million dollars in assets, employing over 30 full-time and part-time employees, and with an annual budget exceeding half-a-million dollars.  Having achieved GuideStar Gold status and recognized as an organization of artistic excellence by the National Endowment for the Arts, it instructs over 700 adults and youth weekly and operates a significant financial aid and scholarship program so that no children are turned away from programs due to their socioeconomic situation.  Learn more at: www.hidesertculturalcenter.org


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