Timeline Theatre selects architect to design its new Uptown home

Chicago’s TimeLine Theatre Company has selected architecture firm HGA to design its new home in an old Uptown building, the nonprofit organization revealed on Wednesday. The news comes six months after TimeLine purchased the abandoned five-story former warehouse at the corner of Broadway and Argyle from Cedar Street Companies for $2.7 million.

HGA

HGA’s plan for the old building involves creating a pair of black box theaters that will respectively seat up to 150 and 250 audience members, a new lobby, and educational facilities.

“[With HGA] we’ll create a space that is inviting to the community, where patrons will want to arrive early and stay late for performances and engagement opportunities that feel intimate and immersive,” said TimeLine artistic director PJ Powers in a statement.

The selection of a designer is a key milestone for the project which will receive $1.5 million in funding in the capital spending bill recently passed by the Illinois General Assembly, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The theater expects additional fundraising, design, and construction actvities to take three years to complete. In the meantime, TimeLine will remain at its current Lakeview location at 615 W. Wellington Avenue.