Reif Performing Arts Center Reopens

Center hosts first look at $11 million renovations.

Four years of planning went into making sure a newly remodeled performing arts center would hit all the right notes for the community of Grand Rapids.

As soon as one stepped into the newly remodeled Reif Performing Arts Center, one could hear the chorus of “wows”.

They handed out towels to wipe up the dust, but everyone lined up to see the sparkle of the new Reif Center.

“I thought oh my word, what is this. It looked completely different than what it used to be,” said violin player Rachel Shiller-Hartwell.

The Reif Center will celebrate its thirty-fifth year as a newly remodeled center for the arts for the community.

“It just could never have been imagined how big the organization would grow and the need for the space would be,” said marketing director Katie Benes.

Renovations cost around $11 million to revamp the 700 seat theater and add a studio theater.

State bonding money and nearly 700 individual donors kept the beat of the community going.

“This day is completely surreal,” said Benes.

The center is not only used by the adjacent Grand Rapids High School, but also hosts thirty to forty touring performing acts a year.

“It’s a great beacon for new opportunities as an instrumentalist in the Northland,” said Shiller-Hartwell.

Now the center and the community can rock around the clock.

“I really like the new look of the Reif,” said Shiller-Hartwell.

For a full list of upcoming performances go to: http://www.reifcenter.org/