The center’s art and theater shows have been moved or delayed
The Bath House Cultural Center. (Photo courtesy of the City of Dallas.)
The Bath House Cultural Center closed last week for monthslong renovations that will improve the appearance and accessibility of the landmark site.
The 1930s Art Deco building closed Feb. 25 and is expected to reopen in early August, according to Friends of the Bath House Cultural Center. It will return just in time for the 22nd annual Festival of Independent Theatres, which typically starts in July.
Many productions from theater groups like One Thirty Productions and Pegasus Theatre will continue at the Lochwood Library. Other activities will be canceled. The center won’t participate in the Art214 exhibition, which takes place across the city’s cultural facilities. It will also forego Lake-a-Palooza! this year, but plans are already underway for the fourth iteration in April 2021.
The Bath House Culture Center will undergo $1.5 million in renovation work to update its plumbing, electric system and landscaping. Funds come from a $14 million bond, approved in 2017, to improve cultural and performing arts centers across the city.
According to the Dallas Morning News, renovations also include:
- To comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, workers will update the lobby bathrooms and build a new walkway from the parking lot to the back of the building
- Make the outdoor theater more useful by improving drainage, adding landscaping to reduce flooding, creating two new gardens and converting the outdoor bathroom into a dressing room
- Soundproof stairway floors so performances can take place simultaneously in the black-box theater and outdoor theater
- Update lighting
- Expand the kitchen
“It’s going to be so much more user friendly, but without losing its bohemian vibe,” center manager Marty Van Kleeck told the Morning News. “Our patrons and artists are really going to see and feel the difference.”
