By John Pacenti
No civic amenity in Delray Beach stands as more of a war wound from the 2021 ouster of the nonprofit that ran Old School Square than the historic Crest Theatre. Five years later, the Crest remains at a critical crossroads as the city navigates a multimillion-dollar path toward reopening the legendary venue.
Now its long-awaited makeover is at hand.
The City Commission at its Feb. 3 meeting gave staff and the design team direction to move forward with a $7.9 million design that would take a staged approach so the city can prioritize and phase in items for budget or fundraising reasons.
The renovation comes after the nonprofit Old School Square Center for the Arts Inc. was ousted by the commission from running the campus in an August 2021 vote after failing to provide audits of its finances.
The bold move — one that still divides former leaders in some circles — also meant ongoing upgrades were stopped. Equipment was removed, according to critics of the nonprofit, though officials with the group said that the equipment was the property of the organization, not the city.
The city restarted programming at the Crest in November 2024 while ceding the rest of the Old School Square campus to the city’s Downtown Development Authority, which took it over reluctantly. The arts school at the Crest — housed in renovated classrooms — was reestablished in the building to great acclaim and is expanding to include ceramics.
At the commission meeting, Mills + Schnoering Architects presented three concept packages: a base rehabilitation to return the auditorium to safe, usable condition for small events; a midlevel package — called Option 1 — that restores full theatrical systems and improves back-of-house accessibility; and an ambitious Option 2, a technology-forward package that adds advanced rigging, lighting, audio/AV and livestreaming capability to make the venue attractive to touring productions and larger events.
The base scope is intended to reopen the Crest for community programming with refreshed finishes, improved seating and critical accessibility upgrades. It would add a permanent back-of-house elevator, a more robust loading dock, and substantially upgraded theatrical systems to support multi-act productions, cinema and musical theater.
Architects said Option 2 included a catwalk or tension-wire grid for an expanded lighting package, in-house audio and video systems that would allow the now 323-seat Crest to be rented to visiting productions and allow live-streaming.
The architects also recommended acoustic improvements, new assisted-listening systems, and safer, more maintainable front-of-house lighting access.
Mills + Schnoering called cost estimates “conceptual,” with the base running about $3 million. Option 1 would cost more than double that price, at nearly $6.4 million, and Option 2 would cost $7.9 million.
“I’m trying to get what’s the biggest bang for the buck,” Mayor Tom Carney said.
Commissioner Juli Casale argued for aiming higher. “My opinion is that we look to get to Option 2, but maybe, as you say, in a staged way,” she said.
Commissioner Tom Markert asked if the balcony was safe. Public Works Director Missie Barletto said that architects have indeed deemed it structurally sound, but safety will be enhanced with new railings.
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