Curtain Rises on New Pace Theaters, Reimagined Performing Arts College

On stage in the new Schimmel Theater, Morgan Robins sings in a Sands College of Performing Arts production of "Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812." Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

There’s a new theater scene in Lower Manhattan.

Pace University cut the ribbon last week on the wholly transformed home of its Sands College of Performing Arts, four levels of state-of-the-art facilities that include two new theaters, and a reimagined Schimmel Theater, closed since its last event in July 2023.

Designed by FXCollaborative, the redone Sands College comes with a dizzying compliment of all-new art, dance and rehearsal studios, labs, shops, classrooms, sound stages and 42-seat screening room, plus the three theater venues. On floors 7 to 18, above the college’s building, is the renovated Maria’s Tower Residence Hall, part of the five-year, $276 million project. 

Consolidated within One Pace Plaza East at Spruce and William streets, the integrated hub replaces what had been the college’s far-flung facilities. “Everything we did was four blocks to a mile apart. Rehearsals, storage, and shops,” said Laurie Brown Kindred, who manages performing arts productions for Sands College.

The proscenium Schimmel Theater, with 430 seats, replaces the 743-seat Schimmel. Acoustically, the theater is vastly improved, Kindred said, and sports a much wider stage, with the ability to expand and accommodate an orchestra. The theater also includes a new fly tower for suspending and moving lighting, scenery, props and other equipment “like any Broadway house would have.” For wheel chair-bound students who want to learn the technical side of production, even the catwalk is accessible, Kindred said. 

The additional stages include a reconfigurable 225-seat Blackbox Theater, and the 143-seat, indoor/outdoor Garden Theater, with walls that can open onto the One Pace Plaza courtyard for more expansive productions and audiences.

The Schimmel Theater has already hosted one outside event, the screening of new episodes of the Ric Burns “New York” documentary series, with other non-Pace events anticipated to begin early next year. Along with Pace productions in the two smaller theaters, Sands College has “partnerships in the works” that include projects in development, workshops, and industry technical demonstrations, a Pace spokesman said.

The Sands College transformation was funded with $174 million from the state, and a $25 million gift from Rob Sands, chairman of Pace’s board of trustees. The city and federal government provided additional funds. The project wraps up the university’s 10-year master plan that includes its 26-story, mixed-use building at 15 Beekman Street, completed in 2023. 

“I want to thank our neighbors for your patience throughout this construction,” Pace president Marvin Krislov said at the ribbon cutting ceremony. “These spaces are for you as well. We are part of this community and look forward to continued partnership as part of our role as an anchor institution for this neighborhood.”