City Auditorium
The City Auditorium is a treasured landmark in the city of Altus. Once a lively regional hotspot for the performing arts, hosting celebrated artists like Loretta Lynn, it’s now in need of a revitalization as a part of the downtown core. Upgrades to meet modern standards for safety, accessibility, and comfort are also necessary.
In the summer of 2021, we embarked on a strategic planning exercise to explore the possibilities for re-energizing the venue and re-engaging with the community. We hosted workshops and one-to-one conversations to fully understand community members’ experiences of attending or working in the venue—in recent years as well as in its heyday—and listened to their concerns about existing barriers with space utilization as well as their ideas and future aspirations for the facility. Guided by the insightful responses we received, as well as the market study research conducted by Keen Independent Research, we designed a planning roadmap and next steps for the client, including advice on elements of the building that must be preserved, as well as feasibility of audience growth and overall venue utilization. Our goal throughout the exercise was to find ways to match the strong local support and community aspirations for the venue’s improvements with realistic options to shape and safeguard its sustainable future.
- 1,200-seat multipurpose theatre
