March 1, 2005 - On February 3, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, BAM Local Development Corporation (BAM LDC) Chair Harvey Lichtenstein and Theatre for a New Audience Founding Artistic Director Jeffrey Horowitz unveiled the design of Theatre for a New Audience's new theater, to be built in the emerging BAM Cultural District in Downtown Brooklyn. Designed through collaboration between Frank Gehry and Hugh Hardy, the theater will be developed on City-owned property within the Cultural District. The $35.8 million, 299-seat flexible classical theater will receive $6.2 million in City Capital Budget support from the BAM LDC. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and City Councilmember Letitia James joined Mayor Bloomberg at the unveiling ceremony, which was held in the Mark Morris Dance Center on Lafayette Avenue directly across from where the new theater is to be built.

"Today, as we unveil the design of Theatre for a New Audience's new home, we can look forward to a dynamic Shakespearean theater company opening its first-ever permanent home, designed by two of the finest architectural minds of our time," Mayor Bloomberg said. "This new theater will be an important anchor for the BAM Cultural District, which is an essential component of our effort to expand the City's third largest business district in Downtown Brooklyn. The BAM LDC is a nonprofit organization with the mission of creating an exciting arts district with a variety of cultural uses and programming. The district will be marked by distinctive public spaces and innovative, world-class architecture. Supporting the arts and growing jobs in this vibrant sector of New York City's economy is an important element of our five-borough economic development strategy to create opportunities and jobs for all New Yorkers."

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