Weeks after Midtown Arts Center in Fort Collins was bulldozed, a new $10 million theater is poised to fill the void.
Set to open in 2021, Boardwalk by Candlelight will be an 800-to-1,000 seat venue focused on musical theater, said Dave Clark, owner and executive producer of parent company Candlelight Dinner Playhouse in Johnstown.
Clark said the idea came about soon after the announcement last year that Midtown was closing.
“We heard from a lot of people who were sad to see (Midtown) go and so we started thinking that, well, maybe there’s an opportunity there,” he said.
The former dinner theater, which opened in 1991 as Carousel Dinner Theatre before moving to a new location and changing its name in 2011, closed this summer after its building was sold. The site will become housing for low-income and homeless residents.
In addition to showcasing locally produced musical theater, Boardwalk by Candlelight will be an event center, hosting weddings, conferences and concerts, Clark said. It will also be home to a children’s musical theater education program.
The venue will be built on the corner of Mason Street and Boardwalk Drive, just two blocks from the former Midtown location.
