The New England Regional Performing Arts Center will be a multifunctional arts and entertainment complex, with a live music venue, theater, and club as the anchors of the project. The Riv Theater will be a 1,500 seat performance hall and will also feature the works of dance companies and choreographers, as well as featuring Broadway touring shows and the works of regional companies. The Riverboat Music Hall will feature live music and will host both national and international touring acts. This space is the showcase of the entire site, encompassing some 87,000 square feet, and will become the venue of choice for artists from around the globe due to its easy proximity to Boston. The Downstream Club will be a live music and dance club, set high in the building facing the river, and will have a capacity of up to 1,000 patrons. Live music and dancing are the main focus of the club, which will feature the music of smaller national touring acts, regional artists and both established and emerging DJs. The club will have two bars and a VIP open seating area adjacent to the stage, as well as a fully equipped state of the art DJ space and sound booth.
Project Team: Vanessa Keith, Cheolyong Kim, Simona Regolo, Joana Barros, Mary-Jo Schlachter, Wen Wu, Pablo Dominguez, Chenyang Lu.
The Kids Entertainment Complex will be a two story, 15,000 square foot facility and will be devoted to arts, science and physical activities for the children and families of the area. Included will be spaces for computer labs, arts, dance and music classrooms, an indoor playground, a circus arts and gymnastics area, a martial arts area and an indoor skate park, as well as cafe and multipurpose spaces. The Music Extension School will feature labs,rehearsal rooms, recording and production studios, a lecture and concert hall, and will also house a state of the art film and video editing suite. The Factory Museum encompasses the entry lobby and three floors of circulation and adjacent space and galleries featuring local, regional and international emerging and avant garde artists. Openings will activate the common spaces of the building, and allow for patrons to see first class works of visual art, as well as experiencing all that the facility has to offer.
Each project component answers the call to fill a void, benefitting both the arts and business communities. The music venue, theater and three restaurants alone have the potential to draw 1.4 million patrons to the site with only an estimated 70 percent of their capacity. These elements are combined with the Kids Entertainment Complex, the Factory Museum, the Music Extension School, the Billiards and Games Complex, Downstream Club, and 13 commercial retail and 11 office spaces into a 133,000 sf integrated complex that will draw people from far and wide. Our project brings two dormant factories back to life thus revitalizing the town, the region and its people.