Worcester Business Journal

14 Worcester Business Journal | March 19, 2018 | wbjournal.com F OC U S M E E T I N G S G U I D E & G O L F D I R E C T O R Y DOWNTOWN ANCHOR Fitchburg State remaking theater as new community, incubator space BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor F or more than three decades, a theater on Fitchburg's Main Street has sat vacant as a lost opportunity to help revitalize a stretch of downtown seem- ing too much like a ghost town. Now, Fitchburg State University is taking on an ambitious project at the Theater Block, to in the short term, bring new educational and entrepre- neurship space to the sprawling build- ing, and later, new storefronts. The final piece will bring life back to a 1,700-seat theater to house produc- tions for the school and community groups. Richard Lapidus took on the rede- velopment after becoming Fitchburg State president in 2015 and hearing from those at the university who want- ed to see the school focus more on entrepreneurship and a more interdis- ciplinary approach. "We had also talked with trustees about the university being a good steward in its home city," Lapidus said of the mission. With that, Fitchburg State bought the dilapidated building the following year for $350,000. A shared community space Just about a mile from campus, the development will be Fitchburg State's first presence of its kind in downtown Fitchburg. A 7,000-square-foot second- floor space is due to be complete at the end of the spring semester to include space for the university's video game design program – the only such public- university program in the state – and entrepreneurship programs. "Part of the effort is to convene groups of people," Lapidus said. "The university, I think, naturally has that role anyway, and now we have an opportunity to do that in a different location with a new audience." The $2-million first phase is meant to bring in the community into a shared open-floor workspace typically existing only in larger cities. University and city officials see the lab as a poten- tial draw for a stretch of Fitchburg with relatively few workers today. "It's very exciting stuff," Fitchburg Mayor Stephen DiNatale said. "We're anticipating that that whole area is going to explode with interest." NewVue Communities, a Fitchburg nonprofit that assists businesses and owns affordable housing, is a partner in the entrepreneurship lab and plans to offer programming there. Marc Dohan, NewVue's executive director, said team- ing with Fitchburg State was the only way to make such an effort possible. "It's a great opportunity, and it's something that neither of us could quite do on our own," Dohan said, add- ing that he sees such a center offering a critical boost to those looking to start their own business. "You're not just renting, and you're not just part of culture," he said. "You're actually learning to do things." Creating a new downtown The Theater Block development is set to come together with two other neigh- boring projects, giving officials hope for more vitality downtown. NewVue Communities is planning renovation of the vacant former B.F. Brown School just a block away on Academy Street to become 50 to 60 res- idential units. The project, which still requires permitting and financing, will be aimed at housing for artists. City Hall sits directly across Main Street from the Theater Block but has been closed since 2012 when a support truss in the roof was deemed a struc- tural hazard. It is slated to be redevel- oped in a $23.5-million project. City Hall workers were relocated to a former manufacturing building a few blocks away on Boulder Drive. That's left two key buildings directly across Main Street from one another empty. BEFORE AFTER Fitchburg State University renderings (top, bottom and right) show the Theater Block building on the right, which sits across Main Street from City Hall, which is vacant but is slated for a $23.5-million renovation.

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