Our Capital Renovation Plans

ISSUE Project Room’s goal in the rehabilitative re-use and renovation of the long-vacant the 1925 McKim, Mead, and White theater at 110 Livingston is to continue and expand our critically acclaimed programming and audience reach in a state-of-the-art facility in downtown Brooklyn. Our renovation priorities are to retain the beauty of the original architecture, bring the space up to date, and to enhance ISSUE’s signature open environment which allows artists to fulfill their respective visions and which fosters rich creative dialogue between artists, audience, and staff.

The existing 5,000 sq. ft. space has 30’ high-coffered ceiling, stone arches, adjacent gallery wings, space for office/lounge area, lobby, rough bathrooms, and no natural lighting with exception of the front lobby area.

Our goals/needs for each component of the space are as follows:

Performance Space - In the 4,800 sq. ft. performance space, we plan to: maintain the original beauty of the architecture and satisfy our production needs; acoustically separate (sound-proof) the theater from the adjacent residencies and maximize the quality of the experience for performers and patrons; hire sound engineers to design for the space based off of our studies; install theatrical rigging (for lights and sound including our hanging 18-channel hemispherical speaker system, hand designed for ISSUE Project Room by sound engineer Stephan Moore); install moveable risers that can accommodate regular and unconventional audience seating; install theatrical and ambient architectural lighting; seal or sound-proof a double-door at the back of the theater space that previously led into the lobby of 110 Livingston; restore various damaged architectural features of the room.

Artist/Audience Lounge - It is our goal to maintain a spirit of open dialogue between artists, staff, and audience; construct a small open kitchen (dishwasher, small oven, sink, cupboard, counter space, sink and refrigerator) for food preparation for artists and receptions. Please note that this area is intentionally open in contrast to private “green rooms” at conventional performance venues.

Video Gallery - We plan to utilize the long hallway leading up to the artist/audience lounge to create a video gallery incorporating multiple flat screen monitors. In this space we will develop quarterly or tri-annual exhibitions curated by ISSUE staff and guest curators featuring leading and emerging contemporary video artists.

Office Space - We want to build a space that maintains open dialogue and shared collaborative work method environment; construct shared office space; construct a central conference/meeting area; install flooring (either poured concrete or other natural/recycled material); install full spectrum “natural” lights as there is no natural lighting or windows in the space; install floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and storage cabinets.

Lobby / Box Office / Retail Store (first point of entry for audience) - In this space we want to evoke a sense of intrigue about the history of Avant-Garde arts, the future of experimental culture, and an awareness of the audience’s vital role in contributing to the creative process; retro-fit the existing lobby space to include a box office; build a small retail area and free standing bar (with a sink and small refrigerator); build a “living archive” bookstore where artists and audience can find works by featured artists as well as rare works by important figures in experimental culture.

Bathrooms, Storage, Signage - We need to complete the existing men’s and women’s bathrooms to code and in line with the design of the overall space; develop alternative storage spaces; create visible and effective external signage (there is not currently any signage outside the building).

For detailed information about our capital project, including timeline, project budget, and preliminary designs for the space, please contact Executive Director, Marc Zegans, at marczegans [at] verizon [dot] net.

To arrange a visit to the space, please contact Managing/Technical Director, Zach Layton, at zachlayton [at] gmail [dot] com.