Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles To Renovate Its Headquarters

 

The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles (“SCLA”) has acquired $15 million to renovate SCLA’s Headquarters. Amanda Susskind, Managing Director, joins the leadership of SCLA with Founder and Artistic Director Ben Donenberg and Chair William H. Ahmanson to help oversee this renovation.

The new $15 million Renovation of the SCLA Headquarters will serve as a:

*State-of-the-art 299-seat live performing arts and community center

*22,000 sq ft. multi-media rental studio supporting broadcast, streaming, recording, and traditional sound stage activity

*LA Signature facility at the western Gateway to Downtown LA’s Cultural Corridor

*Cultural community center dedicated to world-class theatrical productions, high-quality arts enrichment for students and teachers, work-readiness training for youth, and on-the-job training / transitional employment for Veterans and chronically unemployed.

SCLA Founder and Artistic Director Ben Donenberg said, “Renovating our 22,000 square foot warehouse to support live multi-media performance, as well as building out the functionalities demanded by high tech media production, will enable us to create great art that meets the moment and support other non-profit arts organizations and commercial for-profit entertainment industry enterprises to do the same.”

The newly renovated studio will also support the expansion of a wide range of SCLA’s White House-awarded youth employment programs and transitional arts employment on-the-job training experiences targeting the Los Angeles community’s most severely unemployed populations.  

The world-renowned architect of the project is Zoltan E. Pali, FAIA, Design Principal of SPF: architects. His work is distinguished by over 100 national and regional design awards, including an American Architecture Award in 2014 for the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills and an AIALA Presidential Award for leading the executive architecture team on the $280-million renovation and expansion of the Getty Villa Museum.

"As an architect deeply committed to the power of the arts to transform communities, I am excited to lead the renovation efforts for the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles," said Zoltan E. Pali, FAIA, Founder and Design Principal. "Our vision for SCLA is not just about revitalizing a space, but about enabling SCLA to build upon their legacy of artistic expression and community engagement. We celebrate this groundbreaking and look forward to the building’s unveiling as a cultural beacon for the LA community and beyond."