Renovation Announcement – The Future of The Naples Players
September 23, 2021
I have been looking forward to sharing this exciting news with you for quite some time.
Over the last few years, The Board of Directors has been working closely with the staff, volunteers, and key community leaders to identify the assets that The Naples Players can employ to ensure better volunteer experiences, better community service, and long-lasting sustainability.
But the reality is, everything we share with you today is the result of 68 years of dedicated community collaboration and constant growth. Hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours, and tens of thousands of people have brought The Naples Players into incredible success. But like many points in our history, the organization must, once again, overcome the confines of our physical space to meet the growing demands of our community.
The TNP story began in a living room, grew to school auditoriums, a storefront theater, and even a movie theater, before we arrived at our forever home – the theater we enjoy today – in 1998. As you have witnessed, we are bursting at the seams: programs are beyond capacity, shows have been sold out for years, and classes are full. We have capped our ability to earn more revenue, and more significantly, these challenges limit our ability to serve you and the community better. To properly serve each of you, we must evolve once more.
Today I present to you – our most important stakeholders – a $15 Million capital project to renovate and re-imagine our home on 5th Avenue South. Plans for the revitalized facility include significant acoustical, technological, and comfort improvements to the existing theaters; the creation of an additional theater designed to provide the organization’s Educational Theatre program, Readers Theatre, and showcases a true home; not to mention brand new restrooms, a cafe, and even a rooftop terrace! To date, TNP has raised over 60% of the construction costs – and local philanthropists Jay & Patty Baker have pledged $2 Million in matching funds to help continue the current momentum.
None of this would have been possible without the extraordinary dedication of those who have helped us reach this milestone, including those who helped us to build the facility in 1998 – a facility that, thanks to their visionary leadership, we will now be able to re-energize. We intend to continue to honor and appreciate those individuals for the remainder of the organization’s history. Thanks to decades of dedication, generosity, and service – we will now be able to begin the next chapter in the story of TNP. But it will take each one of us to make the future vision a reality.
I invite you to schedule a private tour with me, so that I can share more about this incredible project. As we walk together through the building, I will explain the renovations and paint a clear picture of how you fit into our vision.
With re-imagined spaces to support our amazing volunteers, new technologies to improve sound and lighting, and additional programmatic space, the future of The Naples Players looks incredibly bright.
You can learn more about this exceptional project by visiting: naplesplayers.org/campaign.
