Marking Navy Pier's 100th anniversary, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre announced yesterday morning that it plans to expand its presence at The Yard with a new $35 million performance venue, according to The Chicago Tribune.
Designed by architects Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill in consultation with the British theatre design firm Charcoalblue, the new venue, named The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare on Navy Pier, will be built under an existing white canopy, formerly occupied by Skyline Stage, and will connect new lobby areas with the existing Chicago Shakespeare building to the east.
Audience seating for up to 850 patrons will be located within nine towers that can be moved on casters to reconfigure the playing space to meet the needs of each production. Seating up to 50 patrons, each tower will have its own heating and cooling, lighting positions, and other technical capabilities.
The Yard will have the ability to be configured as a "proscenium, Broadway-style theatre, a thrust stage, or something more akin to an arena-type experience," according to The Chicago Tribune.
Construction is scheduled to break ground in the spring, with the expected completion date in time for the 2017-2018 performance season.
Watch the video from WGNtv.com for more details as well as design renderings for the new performance venue. Read the full article from The Chicago Tribune here.