GAS CITY — A small community in East Central Indiana has big plans to become a destination for arts and entertainment.
Gas City is getting ready to open a brand new performing arts center this summer.
The 1830-seat music venue will soon be open to the public, pulling in people from in and around Grant County.
“We’re putting the duct work in. The acoustical spray," Superintendent for Brandt Construction Darrell Drake said. “To watch it go from a field or a lot into a nice big facility like this is what I do.”
Drake and his staff have spent the past year working to get the 39,944 square foot music venue off the ground.
He says they’re in the final stages of construction.
“We’re on the verge of starting the final coats of paint. Flooring, seating is in. The infrastructure is all together. The building is sprinkled," he said.
Gas City is located right off of Interstate-69, about an hour north of Indianapolis.
“There’s a void of entertainment areas for not only the local community, but the surrounding areas," City Engineer Jason Miller said.
That’s why in 2020, Mayor Bill Rock created a plan to open a venue here in Gas City.
“We felt like there wasn’t a lot between Indy and Fort Wayne in the touring acts. We felt like we were right where we should be," Rock said. “We figure we can draw in from several different counties.”
The Performing Arts Center is a $19.2 million project.
The Gas City Redevelopment Commission has funded $14.25 million, Grant County has funded $2.5 million through the American Rescue Plan Act fund, and the IEDC’s READI 1 program funded $2.75 million.
The center will feature national and regional music artists, comedy, theater, and serve as the main venue for local school district's fine arts programming.
“You’ll end up seeing a hotel around this. You’ll see several sit down restaurants around this that have already been in contact with us. We’re expecting new businesses to pop up from here to Upland as this grows and continues," Rock said.
Construction is expected to be finished this summer, with a soft launch happening sometime in August or September.
You’re able to step up and become a sponsor for the Gas City Performing Arts Center.
There are different tiers of donations.
$1,000 donation will get you one theater chair on the lower level named in your or a loved one's honor.
You can learn more at here.
