Fort Ben Cultural Campus Project Ahead of Schedule

Taylor Bennett

The Fort Ben Cultural Campus includes an expanded theater, an outdoor plaza and amphitheater, musical swings and a historic building transformed into an art gallery.
*Courtesy Arts for Lawrence*

The Fort Ben Cultural Campus in Lawrence will soon open to the public.

The project includes an addition on the theater, an outdoor plaza and amphitheater, musical swings and the transformation of a historic building into an art gallery.

Judy Byron, executive director of Arts for Lawrence, said the COVID-19 pandemic limited the project’s programming, causing the organization to lose more than $120 million in expected revenue.

“We closed in August of 2019 to start phase one, the renovation of the theater, and we planned to open on March 20 of last year, and as you can imagine we were not able to reopen,” Byron said.

However, she says the lack of programming offered time to progress with construction and now the project is ahead of schedule.

A grand opening on May 22 will kick off a series of outdoor summer events hosted by the arts organizations.

The Fort Ben Cultural Campus received a $5.85 million grant from the Lilly Endowment for the project in 2019.

Tags:Lawrence

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