Makeover Progressing at New Bedford’s Zeiterion Performing Arts Center

Work at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center in New Bedford will be reaching an important milestone in the weeks ahead. The ongoing work is part of a $37 million renovation which began in June 2024.

President and CEO Rosemary Gill visited Townsquare Sunday to review the latest construction, and talk about the impact the completed project will have on the city and the region.

"We're likely at 50 percent complete, perhaps closing in on 60 percent," Gill said. "We're starting to see real evidence of the Center being 'built up,' rather than in the first few months, where everything was in the demolition stage."

Gill said work has continued in the auditorium, where crews have moved around dirt to improve the slope and grade of that area.

"They have now poured three different stages of cement on the theater floor, so it really does now start to look like a theater again," she said.

Gill said the next big thing will be the placing of scaffolding and staging around walls of the theater, a process that will take several weeks, so painters and plasterers can do their work at the ceiling point.

In other parts of the building, work is progressing as well. Gill said the framing is completed in the so-called "front of house" with plumbers, electricians and others busy everyday.

"It's starting to look like a performing arts center and the type of place we've been dreaming about for the last several years," she said.

The fundraising effort continues on for the last $3 million needed to complete the project. Gill said the "Z" is now appealing to the community to help the project reach the finish line. Those who wish to donate can visit zeiterion.org.

Gill also hopes to hear from people who have visited the Zeiterion in the past.

"How do they envision this new 'Z' becoming part of their life again? How will they use some of these new spaces, and what will they imagine doing there?" she said. "We are changing the way we work, trying to plan with the community, and not for the community."

If you would like to share your thoughts, you can send an email to info@zeiterion.org.

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