Future Facility Planning

BACKGROUND

For many years, Clear Space Theatre Company has been proud to call 20 Baltimore Avenue in Rehoboth Beach home. The original site of Epworth United Methodist Church, the property was converted into a theater after Epworth moved to Hebron Road. Our community and local interest in great professional live theater has grown dramatically in the years since Clear Space began performing at this location.

Several years ago, Clear Space began work to consider where it may be able to build a new purpose-built facility to improve both audience and artist experiences. After a well-publicized attempt to get clearance to build that facility on three parcels near the traffic circle entering into Rehoboth Beach did not come to fruition, the company took stock to assess its future direction. With the hire of new Managing Director Joe Gfaller in late 2023, Clear Space began a research-based approach to the question of its future home, looking to nationally-recognized experts in architecture and theater planning to build a roadmap to guide its decision making.

The need for a new facility has become more pronounced after a record breaking 2024 season at Clear Space,  when full runs of most mainstage productions completely sold out for the first time in CSTC history. As much as we seek to improve audience and artist experiences with a new facility, we also seek to ensure that we can meet the demand of our community for our productions, which is no longer consistently possible in our existing 170-seat theater.

THE FIRST STEP: A MARKET STUDY

In late summer 2024, Clear Space engaged the design and planning firm Theatre Projects to begin a market study to assess what scope of a new performing arts center would best meet the needs of coastal Delaware. Based on the findings of that study, Clear Space plans to move forward with site exploration from among the parcels currently known to be available. Recognizing where the largest number of our audience resides, Clear Space has limited the scope of its site exploration to parcels in the 19971 and 19958 zip codes.

A letter announcing this market study was presented to both the Rehoboth Beach City Commission and the Lewes City Council, with public comment at both presentations available.

Read the Market Study Letter Here

Recognizing the needs of the community may extend beyond the needs of Clear Space, the study is also including conversations with prospective future users of a new performing arts center. The recently completed CREATE plan developed by the Delaware Arts Alliance has shown that Sussex County is the only county in Delaware that lacks a true “Arts Hub,” gathering artistic organizations from across a range of disciplines into one place. 

GET INVOLVED!

Clear Space is committed to this process being as clear and transparent as possible and actively invites community participation in this market study. At this stage in the process, there are two critical ways in which we can incorporate community input into the process:

1. Take the Community Survey
   This 30 minute survey takes a deep dive into perceptions about Clear Space’s current facility, community priorities in the new facility, and prospective impact for audiences based on areas where Clear Space could potentially build. The surveys are completely anonymous, although respondents are welcome to provide their email address at the end of the survey in order to be entered to win one of five $50 Amazon gift cards.
   
   
   
   
2. Send us an Email!
   We invite you to share your hopes and vision for the future of Clear Space Theatre Company for inclusion in our market study. All information shared will be collected by the team at Theatre Projects and then incorporated into the results of their study. Please email cstc@theatreprojects.com or call their dedicated phone number for this project 302-336-7800.
   
   

As the project continues, this page will be continuously updated with new information.