The Dock Street Theatre
EVANS & SCHMIDT ARCHITECTS
Widely recognized as a local and national treasure, the present day Dock Street Theatre located in the historic French Quarter area of Charleston was originally built as the Planters Inn Hotel in 1809. Following the Civil War, the hotel fell into disrepair and was finally abandoned following significant damage from the earthquake of 1886. In 1935, the Works Public Administration commissioned the adaptive reuse of the five historic buildings on the site of one of America's first purpose built theaters in 1736 including what had once been the Planters Inn Hotel. Since 1937, it has served the diverse needs of the local community as a performing art theater. Our participation in this project involved the renovation of the historic 440 seat theatre as well as the support spaces of the 39,000 square foot building to address the issues of the sophistication and flexibility demands of a world class performance facility. The historic buildings were seismically reinforced through careful and unobtrusive design, accessibility issues addressed, as were all building services of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and acoustic design. An important element in the programming of this facility was the coordination of the requirements of the many stakeholders including The City of Charleston's Office of Cultural Affairs, Piccolo Spoleto, Moja Festival, Charleston Stage, and Spoleto USA.
