Austin’s outstanding quality of life really boils down to two things: its nature and its culture. Along the beautiful shores of Lady Bird Lake, you can experience both Austin’s natural beauty and its vibrant cultural achievements with the emergence of ZACH’s new, intimate Topfer Theatre, which will make the experience even richer.

Construction and a public fundraising effort for the remaining $4.5 million are now under way for an expanded performance campus at ZACH, Austin’s leading regional theatre, which has been delivering artistic excellence for 78 years.

At the corner of Lamar Boulevard and Riverside Drive on the lakefront, ZACH’s bigger, brighter, bolder home will include space for the theatre’s many community and education programs, as well as two modern performance venues, anchored by the brand-new Topfer Theatre.

The project, funded by private donations and proceeds from the 2006 Austin bond election, will begin captivating audiences by fall 2012.

Ever engaged with Austin, ZACH has experienced remarkable growth in recent years, with record-setting subscription and ticket sales. As it’s grown, ZACH has extended not only its reach, but also its ambitions with innovative, original programming that “creates the opportunity for meaningful conversations on topics that have resonance for our community,” said longtime Artistic Director Dave Steakley. “As our region continues to grow in both population and stature, so does its expectations for ZACH.”

Today, ZACH is by far the largest producing theatre organization in Central Texas, employing more than 300 Austin actors, musicians, designers and artists for its annual season. Its size and scope have well-outstripped the capacity of the current ZACH campus and its main stage Kleberg Theatre, which dates back to 1972.

“The Kleberg has served us well for 40 years,” Steakley said, “but it does not meet the needs of a professional theatre company working in the 21st century.”

The new Topfer Theatre, being built alongside ZACH’s current Kleberg and the smaller Whisenhunt theatres, will provide a modern, professional and creative environment for both ZACH’s artists and its patrons.

Designed by Austin’s Andersson/Wise Architects – who also designed the new W Hotel tower downtown – the Topfer Theatre and its Karen Kuykendall Stage will provide a performance space that is more than three times larger than the current ZACH main stage.

The increased size, as well as improved lighting, sound, acoustics and multimedia capabilities, will make a huge difference in ZACH’s ability to keep up with Austin’s growing expectations for its local performing arts. It means ZACH will be able to mount shows with larger casts and more sophisticated sets and staging, while maintaining the intimate seating ZACH patrons have come to expect for both homegrown works and productions shared with America’s other leading regional theatres.

“This new theatre gives us far more freedom to select – or create – plays and musicals that have simply not been possible to perform in our current spaces,” Steakley said. “Right now, our family of artists is limited in their ability to create by the confines of the facility itself. The new theatre will change all that.”

This increased artistic vitality can also be enjoyed by more Austinites at the new ZACH campus. At 420 seats, the Topfer Theatre is bigger than the Kleberg and Whisenhunt combined. More seats means ZACH can recoup the costs of productions more quickly, present more works on its stages, incubate new works, enhance its education programs and generate more revenue to invest in new productions and in the talents of the creative professionals for whom ZACH is their artistic home.

“We value Austin artists who create unique work that inspires us,” Steakley said, “and we want to keep them gainfully employed in our city.”

The patrons at the new Topfer Theatre will enjoy what is sure to become one of Austin’s signature public spaces. The two-story lobby, fronted by glass panels embracing an open-air plaza, brings all of downtown Austin and Lady Bird Lake into the ZACH experience.

A “Juliet balcony” above the plaza will itself become a performance space. ZACH is commissioning a series of short original “Balcony Plays” to be performed alongside classic balcony scenes from the theatre canon. Acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks and Austin composer Allen Robertson of PBS’ Biscuit Brothers are the first two artists who have signed up to contribute works to this innovative and free play project.

Also in keeping with Austin’s community values and the example set by the nearby Long Center, the Topfer Theatre features enhanced green building and sustainable design features, including rain gardens, energy-efficient lighting and glazing, local and recycled materials and a doubling of the number of trees on the campus.

ZACH and its design team will be seeking LEED® Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, making the Topfer Theatre one the first dedicated performance spaces in Texas to achieve that rating.

The Topfer Theatre fulfills not only ZACH’s needs, but also those of the larger Austin artistic community. Since Austin currently lacks a mid-size theatre (larger than the Kleberg, but smaller than the Long Center). ZACH anticipates making the space available for concerts, dance and other types of performances.

The investment made by ZACH, its friends and supporters and the people of Austin will thus continue the organization’s 78-year tradition of fostering Central Texas’ creative climate.

As you drive or walk by the new performance campus taking shape along the shores of Lady Bird Lake, continue to expect wonders from ZACH as it sets the stage for an expanded artistic home and a new regional theatre worthy of a growing Austin.

Tom Terkel is a principal for FourT Realty and a ZACH board member. For more information about ZACH, visit www.zachtheatre.org.

Zach Theatre Performs as Catalyst for Austin’s Creative Class

By Carol Thompson

The creative class. The knowledge industry. The new economy. Whatever we call it, it’s what has put Austin on the global map, and it’s clearly what we do best. Austin is in the business of new ideas, new ways of thinking and staying ahead of the curve. Cultural vitality is an enormously important element of Central Texas’ competitive advantage.

And in order for us to succeed at that business and provide for the future of our city and region, we have to invest in nurturing our creativity. That means providing places, spaces and programs that enable that creativity to flourish and inspire. That’s why the new ZACH Theatre campus, anchored by the state-of-the-art Topfer Theatre, is so important to Austin.

The people of Austin have shown they agree, most notably in 2006, when voters approved more than $30 million in funding for Austin cultural institutions (as well as $90 million for the new central library) as part of that year’s major bond election.

In addition to the Austin Film Society, the Mexican-American Cultural Center and the Mexic-Arte Museum, ZACH Theatre was a beneficiary of that generous civic commitment, raising $10 million for the new campus currently under construction.

ZACH has also nearly matched that commitment with approximately $7.25 million in private contributions to date through its capital campaign. Even during the economic downturn, in the most challenging fundraising environment in generations, ZACH was able to both remain profitable and raise nearly $2 million in major gifts from longtime organizational and individual donors.

As ZACH moves into the broader, grassroots phase of its capital campaign to meet its overall goal of $22 million, it’s easy to see how the theatre’s work touches the lives of a wide spectrum of Austinites.

ZACH and Austin move together gracefully like dance partners onstage. As Austin continues to grow in size, economics and culture, so does ZACH, ensuring along the way that its actors and performances continue to tap into this weird, wired, wonderful place we call home.

ZACH is truly a hub for Austin’s creative community, without which Austin’s very identity as a “creative capitol” would be much diminished. The new ZACH campus is a way for Austin to keep those creative juices flowing and live up to the promise our city has made to the world.

Carol Thompson is a principal with The Thompson Group