On June 28, the Zeiterion Theater hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the restoration and renovation of its 100-year old, 33,000 theater building in the heart of downtown New Bedford. The renovation will include a new marquee, box office, and upper lobby, two new lounge areas, a movement studio, restoration of the main theater space, improved sound and lighting, and accessibility upgrades.

The event, held under a tent outside the Zeiterion, celebrated the project and thanked the public for their support in making this transformative project a reality. It was attended by nearly two hundred community members, arts and culture advocates, and legislators. It concluded with leadership opting to smash a ceremonial wall instead of shoveling dirt to signify that the Z is reimaging old traditions for its new home.

The program included remarks from Zeiterion President & CEO Rosemary Gill, Mayor of the City of New Bedford Jon Mitchell, Representative Chris Hendricks, Representative Antonio Cabral, Senator Mark Montigny, Senator Michael Rodrigues, Kate Fox from Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, campaign co-chairs Deborah Baker and Joseph Nauman, and Zeiterion board chair Frank Almeida.

Affirmative secured approximately $8.5MM in federal and state historic tax credit equity plus capital campaign bridge debt from Bristol County Savings Bank.

Following the 2020-21 construction of the school’s Upper School campus building, located at 395 Columbia Road in Dorchester, Conservatory Lab will begin its renovation of its Lower School campus building, which serves 209 of Conservatory Lab’s 450 students. Board Chair Rev. Dr. Greg Groover says that, “After moving locations five times since the school’s founding in 1998 the beginning of this renovation shows Conservatory Lab’s dedication to the Dorchester community. With two permanent locations, Conservatory Lab now has the opportunity to focus on how to best serve its permanent student population base in the Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, and Roxbury communities.”

Originally purchased in 2015, the Lower Campus building, located at 133 Hancock Street, has served Conservatory Lab students well, however, small windows, and limited natural lighting have posed challenges to learning. There are a limited number of bathrooms, an antiquated HVAC system that requires ever increasing maintenance, and outdoor recess takes place on a modest play yard but is often curtailed because of inclement weather.

Executive Director, Nicole Mack says, “The Lower School renovation will provide the Lower School students with a facility that fully supports their music, academic, and Social/ Emotional learning and honor the work of Conservatory Lab’s talented and experienced teachers.”

This comprehensive upgrade of the existing site will yield additional bathrooms, outdoor environmental classrooms, state-of-the-art practice and performance spaces, and a cafeteria/assembly/recess space to nurture social and physical growth.

Affirmative secured $9MM in NMTC Allocation from Civic Builders and $24.4MM in long-term fixed rate debt from Equitable Facilities Fund to finance the renovation and expansion. Affirmative worked with HarborOne Bank to refinance a tax-exempt bond issued as part of the 2019 Upper School construction project.

Mayor of Boston Michelle Wu provides remarks during the dedication ceremony of the August Wilson Lobby.

The Huntington Theater re-opened on October 19th with a performance of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. The Huntington marked the occasion by dedicating its lobby to August Wilson, a Pittsburgh-born playwright known as the “theater’s poet of Black America”. Wilson was a resident playwright at the Huntington from 1986 – 2005. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Huntington Theater Executive Director Michael Maso provided opening remarks and welcomed back the theater’s first live audience since closing due to the COVID pandemic.

Affirmative Investments served at the Huntington’s tax credit financing consultant, raising NMTC Allocation and Federal and State Historic Tax Credit Equity from National Trust Community Investment Corporation and East West Bank. Other financing partners included Century Bank, now merged with Eastern Bank, and Zion’s Bank.