The University of Idaho Ernest G. Hartung Theater will receive a minor facelift this summer, for safety reasons.
“The scope of the project is to replace all the cast iron parts, replace the steel running lines and upgrade the steel cable terminations at the arbor and at the battens,” said Dean Panttaja, theatre and film chair.
Essentially, the theater’s rigging system will be replaced, which is expected to take eight weeks, according to Alexiss Turner, theater arts marketing director. This is the first update to focus on the rigging system since the Hartung’s construction in 1973. The steel cables used in the riggings are recommended for replacement after 30 years, which makes these updates nine years overdue.
Because of the construction, the Idaho Repertory Theater summer session will be cancelled. However, the IRT summer camp for youth will still take place beginning in May. The youth camp traditionally produces a showcase at the close of the camp, but Turner said this year the group hopes to do something a little larger.
“We hope to get a full-scale production to promote IRT in that way,” Turner said.
Turner said the construction is set to begin around June 1, which should put its completion around mid-August in time for the show.
Renovations will also benefit technology students.
Jay O. Glerum & Associates, the firm undertaking construction, offered a workshop Saturday that educated students on “rigging safety, maintenance, operation, load engineering and installation,” according to a press release.
This workshop certified students to assist in construction efforts during the summer.
The cost of the upgrades is estimated at $50,000, which Turner said came from the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences.
“The money was scraped together from various funds by Dean Kathy Aiken,” Turner said.
In addition to the replaced rigging, renovation includes upgrades to assist hearing-impaired audience members and people with a wheelchair handicap. To accomplish these upgrades, the theater department is running the “Take-a-Seat” campaign.
“Take-a-Seat” allows a donor to “purchase” a seat in the Hartung for $500, after which their name, or whatever they would like to have engraved, will be on a plaque on a seat in the theater.
The funds collected will provide six wheelchair spaces, wireless sound systems and improved lighting and aisle access.