Women’s FEST returns to Rehoboth Beach next week

Clear Space Theater Company and the City of Rehoboth Beach have agreed to create a public-private partnership to redevelop city-owned land as a new performing arts center, the theater announced Friday.

The CSTC Board of Directors formally accepted the city’s letter of intent on October 23, ending an 18-month process to select a site for the new performing arts center.

The agreement commits Clear Space to remaining in Rehoboth Beach, where it has been based since 2010.

Clear Space plans to enter into a ground lease at 11 Christian St. under the terms of the letter of intent, after the Cape Henlopen Senior Center moves to its next home on Hebron Road outside city limits, according to the announcement. The senior center, which has been a tenant on city land for 45 years, was gifted the land to expand its operations and plans to move after the capital campaign is completed. At that point, Clear Space will begin signing leases for up to 50 years. The land, valued at $7.2 million, will be offered to Clear Space for $1 a year.

The new performing arts center will include a proscenium main stage, flexible seating black box, rehearsal studio, expanded lobby, concessions, backstage facilities and gallery space, according to the announcement. Parking is available on site.

“On behalf of the commission, we are thrilled that Clear Space has chosen our proposal and plans to stay in the City of Rehoboth Beach,” Mayor Stan Mills said in a statement. “Clear Space has always enriched Rehoboth Beach culturally, socially, creatively and economically. Rehoboth Beach is a premier performing arts center near and dear to our residents, visitors and business owners. We believe it’s a win-win and look forward to many more years of partnership with Clear Space.”

“We would like to thank Mayor Mills for initially recommending that Clear Space consider the site at 11 Christian Street in March 2024,” said Joe Gfoller, Clear Space Managing Director. “This site may not have been considered as one of the nine sites in the 2019 market study. As our analysis narrowed down the desired sites, the staff and elected officials of the City of Rehoboth Beach have always been excellent partners and negotiated fairly and transparently in our interests.” Rehoboth Beach residents, business owners and tourists. ”

The total cost of the new performing arts center is approximately $40 million, according to the announcement, and a national RFP process for architects for the project will begin soon, with a community forum for residents and audiences expected to begin in 2026.

The development will end a long-standing dispute over the location of the new theater complex. In 2021, the Rehoboth Beach Commission voted for a second time to overturn the City Planning Commission’s decision to approve a plan by Clear Space to build a large theater and adjacent rehearsal theater at a new location downtown.

At the time, supporters of the project expressed anger over the commission’s 4-3 vote to deny the Planning Commission’s approval and the Clear Space application, which would have built a new theater on Rehoboth Street, the city’s main commercial thoroughfare. The controversy has led to speculation that Clear Space may move to Route 1 outside Rehoboth, or to nearby Lewes, Delaware.