HUNTSVILLE — As Fantasy Playhouse Children’s Theater & Academy prepares to raise the curtain on its new home, the organization said it reached a major milestone in its capital expansion campaign “Spotlight on the Future.”
First Horizon Bank has become the official naming sponsor of the Access and Community Engagement Office, the FPCTA announced today.
“Ginger Harper, Eric Sanders, and the entire First Horizon Bank team have demonstrated long-standing support of FPCTA and our capital expansion project since we first announced our plans in 2019,” said CEO Karen Mockensturm. “We, at FPCTA, felt that it was only fitting that we honor First Horizon Bank’s financial commitment to this project by aligning their naming sponsorship in the new building to our organizations’ shared goals of community development through educational empowerment and quality of life.”
As part of its “Spotlight on the Future” campaign, FPCTA purchased the historical Merrimack Hall last year.
The 24,534 square-foot facility offers a fully functioning, accessible 300-seat theatre and renovation opportunities to add classroom spaces, a dedicated preschool classroom suite, costume shop/maker space, catering kitchen, ADA-compliant bathrooms, public lobby space, and office wing to support its year-round theatre arts education and production programming.
The move will allow FPCTA to increase its live theatrical productions, provide free accessible parking to intergenerational patrons, and expand performing arts training and STE(A)M technical theatre curriculum. This will engage students in workforce development and benefit their academic success, regardless of career path.
Additional family-focused event programming and rental income opportunities will contribute to FPCTA’s sustainability and bring economic development to the Merrimack Mill Village Historic District.
Renovations at Merrimack Hall are on track to conclude in May for summer camp programming, FPCTA said. The project is led by Principal Architect Greg Kamback at ArcSpace Studio and Brent Snyder, president of JS Building Co. Financing is provided by SmartBank.
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