After years of raising money in the face of rising costs and construction delays, Kitchen Dog Theater is finally scheduled to start renovating its new home in early November. The $2.7 million project could transform the landscape of performing arts venues in North Texas.
Initial plans called for the 10,000-square-foot theater complex at 4774 Algiers St. to open in 2018. But since buying the Northern Design District tile warehouse eight years ago for just under $1 million, the company has struggled to get the work underway.
A flexible 135-seat black box theater, rehearsal hall/cabaret space that could accommodate between 30 and 50 audience members, scenic shop and offices are expected to be ready in June, in time for the start of Kitchen Dog’s 2025-26 season, managing director Tim Johnson said in a recent interview. “Contracts are signed, so we are definitely moving forward. I still have a bit of money to raise, so we’ve taken out a loan for a portion of the renovation costs.”
Johnson blames the delays on a slow permitting process and rising construction costs, which have grown from under $2 million to nearly $3 million. In addition, a bank loan fell through in February, he said. A new lender has been secured.
The project was designed by Fort Worth architect Gregory Ibañez, who was responsible for turning a former Cowtown nightclub into a new home for the Amphibian Stage theater group in 2012.
Besides providing dedicated space for Kitchen Dog’s adventurous productions, the black box and rehearsal hall will be made available to other local troupes. One or two could potentially perform their entire seasons in the theater, Johnson said. That’s possible because Kitchen Dog won’t need to build sets or rehearse in the main performance space, freeing up the venue for about 20 weeks a year.
A facilities manager will be hired to book rentals. “That was a big selling point in our capital campaign,” Johnson said. “This isn’t just a space for us. It’s a space for the community because there’s going to be so much availability.”
Kitchen Dog needs that outside business to help stay afloat as plans to open without any debt have gone by the wayside. To make the project possible, the company is borrowing about $1.2 million, Johnson said. It’s a risky move because revenue won’t keep pace with the payment schedule.
Johnson expects to raise enough money in the next year to pay back half the loan. “The other half is blurrier,” he said.
Also on the books is a $840,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan taken out from the federal government during the pandemic, Johnson said. The good news is payments are less than the company built into its budget for occupancy costs after having to leave its longtime home at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary in 2015.
As Johnson and co-artistic directors Tina Parker and Christopher Carlos know, performance spaces with less than 100 seats are in high demand among local arts groups that don’t have their own venues. The number of such spaces has shrunk in recent years. Others promised have failed to materialize.
Margo Jones Theatre in Fair Park, where itinerant companies like Soul Rep Theatre Company and the Classics Theatre Project have put on seasons in the past, is closed with no completion date for planned renovations announced. Meanwhile, a pair of black box theaters that were eventually supposed to be part of Moody Performance Hall remain unfunded 12 years after the building opened. Other city-owned facilities like the South Dallas Cultural Center are underused.
Since its longtime headquarters at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary was sold and razed, Kitchen Dog has wandered from venue to venue. It was a shocking development for a company that had become an important player in the national alternative theater movement since its founding by a group of Southern Methodist University graduates in 1990.
In 2017, Kitchen Dog reestablished itself at the Trinity River Arts Center, only to be interrupted by the pandemic. After the 2022-23 season, the venue was no longer available as a theater space.
Last season, the company performed its shows at a Frisco ballpark, Design District CrossFit gym and East Dallas record store. Still figuring out where to go next, it has yet to announce a 2024-25 lineup of shows.
“We will have one come hell or high water,” Parker said of the company’s season. “Most traditional theater facilities are already booked through June so we are definitely looking at some unconventional spaces and scripts again. I anticipate this season to have a delayed start and all happen in 2025.”
Kitchen Dog has about $1.5 million in the bank from a capital campaign it launched to buy the warehouse and pay for renovations, Johnson said. An anonymous donor got things started with a $500,000 contribution. The $3 million campaign still has about $600,000 to raise.
Previous donors have expressed interest since Johnson sent out letters letting them know the renovations were set to begin, he said. Johnson also plans to pursue money from two major foundations he began talking to before the pandemic.
“When we started this, we knew that there was a need in town for theater spaces,” he said. “That need has continued to grow, and it was part of why we decided to move forward. We have to have our own space. There’s nowhere left. There’s no place in town where we could do a full season. We would have to keep moving, and it’s just impossible to grow a donor base and a subscriber base when you’re moving every show.”
CLARIFICATION, 10:55 a.m., Nov. 1, 2024: This article has been updated to clarify plans for a pair of black box theaters at Moody Performance Hall.
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