This week, Northern Sky Theater purchased a 17-acre parcel of land on the southeast corner of County A & F in Fish Creek where they plan to build a Rehearsal and Operations Center.
The purchase was made possible as part of a generous capital campaign gift from Michael J. and Marge McCoy. Mike McCoy is a Northern Sky board member and member of the board finance committee. McCoy, formerly Executive VP and CFO of Hormel Foods Corporation, presently is the Chair of the Board of Regents at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.
"Our family has enjoyed Northern Sky for the last 15 years. We appreciate the productions, the setting, and that Northern Sky provides great family entertainment," stated McCoy. "Northern Sky is the activity of choice for our grandchildren whenever they come to Door County."
In June of this year, Northern Sky was granted a rezoning amendment allowing them to move forward with the purchase of the property. The land was purchased from Stella Maris Parish.
While the company will continue to perform its summer season at Peninsula State Park, this project aims to improve its ability to create, produce, and support all the aspects of the organization that happen behind the scenes.
"This is the first exciting step towards realizing a long-held dream," stated Managing Director Dave Maier. "We're going to take the winter months to fine tune the campus design and organize and initiate our capital campaign."
Northern Sky currently operates from a host of rented facilities spread all over the county. It has its business office in Ephraim, shop and costume space in Baileys Harbor, rehearsal space in Egg Harbor, and storage space in Fish Creek.
The integrated campus will merge all of Northern Sky's support operations and house two buildings. The Creative/Support Center will include administrative offices, box office functions, practice rooms, and a costume shop. This building will also house a rehearsal space that will convert to an intimate, 200-seat performance space. The second building will house a scenery and carpentry shop. The company has partnered with the renowned architectural firm Strang, Inc. out of Madison, WI, and preliminary design work is well underway.
"We are so grateful to the McCoys for this generous gift. Purchasing the property now will help keep the project energized and help us kick-start our fundraising campaign next year," stated Director of Development, Holly Feldman.
Northern Sky will file an application with the Door County Resource Planning Commission for a "Fine Arts Venue" conditional use permit for the property in 2016.
