Today I talk with Dan Kupsky, president of Riverfront Playhouse in Redding. He’s retired from the Redding Police Department, and wears many hats, including community activism, and his annual appearance as Blue Santa, bringing holiday joy to disadvantaged and ill children. Please join me in welcoming Dan to A News Cafe.com.
Dan Kupsky
Q: Dan, before we discuss your news about Riverfront Playhouse, can you first please tell a bit about yourself, and your affiliation with Riverfront Playhouse?
I’ve been in Redding 43 years, moving here in the summer of 1973. I visited a friend I’d met while stationed at Lemoore Naval Air Station outside of Fresno and fell in love with the area. Upon getting out of the service
in 1972 I lived in Fresno for 10 months and then decided to move to Redding. I’m originally from southern New Jersey. It was a tough decision to leave friends and family, but I loved California with its beauty, and Redding seemed to be the perfect fit for a small town boy like me.
I was luckily hired by the Redding Police Department after attending Shasta College and spent 28 years there in many positions from officer to investigator; SWAT member to hostage negotiator. My last eight years I served as Department Training Sergeant. I’ve been a long-time community activist and have served on many non-profit Boards. I’m currently president of Riverfront Playhouse
Q: That’s quite a trajectory, Dan. What was your first exposure to Riverfront Playhouse, and do you remember your first impressions?
While emceeing Marketfest I met long-time Riverfront Board member Mary Forbes in 2002. She asked me to emcee the local RAVES festival show choir competition which also had other Riverfront Board members involved. After a couple of years Mary advised that Riverfront was looking for new Board members. I checked it out and found a true love of live theater. I became a board member and hoped to one day get on the stage.
I then discovered that they had a vision for getting a new theater and wanted to move downtown. I was vice -president for many years and did get my chance in 2006 to grace the stage as one of the card players in “The Odd Couple”. Needless to say I was hooked, having already been a ham and having a liking for public speaking. I’ve been in approximately 10 productions since, including shows at the Cascade Theatre and Shasta College. There’s just something about entertaining an audience that’s euphoric.
Q: OK, thanks for giving the background. Now, finally, your news.
Our long-term dream has come true as Riverfront Playhouse has closed escrow and purchased the property at 1950 California Street (the former RIOH building). We had to explore other options after years of trying to build on the acquired site of Pine and Placer streets when construction costs and prevailing wage issues made it financially impossible.
1950 California Street, the future home of Riverfront Playhouse.
We looked at several different locations, considered leasing options, but determined buying the California Street property was the best fit and best way to spend the donated community funds. This 11,500-square foot building will meet all our needs and allow for a performing arts center that will seat approximately 150 patrons.
Q: Congratulations on acquiring the California Street property. It must be a relief. The thing is, that sign on that empty lot on Pine and Placer has identified it as Riverfront Playhouse’s future home for so long, and we’ve seen Trilogy Architecture’s drawings, so I could totally picture it there. The Pine and Placer location seemed perfect for so many reasons. Were there drawbacks or limitations at the Pine/Placer location that are overcome at the California Street property?
Pine and Placer was a fantastic site, being on a main roadway in downtown Redding. Our current location — in a hard-to-find warehouse district with limited parking and cramped space — has always been the reason I think more folks aren’t exposed to live theater and the outstanding talent we have here locally, even though we’ve been there for more than three decades. With our purchase on California Street we will also be on a main thoroughfare, still in downtown, and probably have even more parking than we would have had on Placer. It’s a beautiful setting along a local creek and will make a wonderful performing arts center.
Q: The Riverfront board was tenacious about making this project work, and paid about $690,000 for it. What were the challenges to acquiring this property?
We had to overcome many obstacles during our purchase of the new building. The owners wanted a fast escrow because they were being threatened with foreclosure. In working with local banks to secure loans for the purchase they were concerned about soil issues dealing with the property next door which was used years ago by PG&E to manufacture gas. We had to extend the escrow a couple times to allow the owner to get engineering clearance to appease the banks. This delay caused us to have to search for a bridge loan to close escrow to avoid the foreclosure. We didn’t want to take the risk of a bidding war during a foreclosure sale, didn’t have the funds for that, and didn’t want to lose the site after all our work and due diligence. Happily for us, Alan and Sherry Shufelberger agreed to make us a bridge loan until our bank financing came through and saved the day. We are so thankful to them.
Q: The California Street property will require a remodel. Two questions: What’s the estimated cost, and what’s the ballpark completion date?
We were told that building at the Placer Street site would be in the area of 3.5 million. Trying to be a responsible non profit we chose the option of finding an existing building that would meet all our needs. We purchased the property for $699,000 and are looking for reconstruction costs to be in the neighborhood of 600,000.
1950 California Street, published in Enjoy Magazine, courtesy of Riverfront Playhouse.
As you can see this is a major saving and will allow us to turn the property around in a much shorter time frame. We have lots of work to do, drawings, plans, permits, etc., but needless to say we are going to begin immediately and plan on opening for sure in 2017, but the exact month has yet to be determined.
Q: The California Street location does sound like a better fit for Riverfront Playhouse, but I can’t help but feel badly about the old Carl’s Tire building’s demolition, and now the lot is empty. What will happen to that Pine and Placer property now?
In our agreement with the City that got us the Pine and Placer site, our failure to build there means the site goes back to the City of Redding. Since the redevelopment agency no longer exists, the City will sell the property and give the money to the state. Our Board can’t say enough about how hard the City staff worked with us on our dream for a new theater and we thank them for their patience and support.
Q: What’s the vision for Riverfront in the California Street location?
We hope that our new site, which is still in the downtown corridor, will have a great impact on downtown business and add to the on going revitalization that has taken place. We will be working hard to partner with all the business owners in downtown Redding striving for mutual success.
Riverfront Playhouse has been in existence in our current warehouse site since 1981. Even with a leaky roof. two small bathrooms, and poor parking, not to mention being tucked away and hard to find we have been successful. With our move downtown, greater exposure, and a better facility, we hope to greatly expand the audience for live theater and provide a showcase for all the very talented folks we have here in the north state.
Until we open in 2017 Riverfront will continue to put on great shows at our East Cypress Avenue location. Opening on May 21 will be “Love, Loss, and What I Wore” by Nora and Delia Ephron. We also will have a playwright’s nite out on June 17, 18, and 19 where eight short plays written by local playwright’s will be performed.
This is an exciting time for Riverfront Playhouse. We need the communities support now more than ever. If you’d like to help us with our capital campaign, be a part of our productions, or have any idea’s you’d like to share please contact us. Our website is riverfrontplayhouse.net, friends of Riverfront on Facebook, or you can contact me at dkupsky208@hotmail.com.
