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About Bellevue City Profile

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Park Planning and Development

Park Planning Introduction
	2008 Parks & Natural Areas Levy Fact Sheet

Aquatics Feasibility Study

Bellevue Airfield Park Master Plan (formerly Eastgate Area Properties)

Bellevue Botanical Garden Master Plan Update
	BBG Visitor Center
	Ravine Experience

Bellevue Youth Theatre Construction

Bridle Trails Levy Project

Downtown Park Inspiration Playground

Forest Drive Streetscape

Hidden Valley Park Partnership

Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center Construction
	Background
	Partnerships

Meydenbauer Bay Park and Marina Projects

Meydenbauer Bay Park Plan

Newport Hills Neighborhood Park Planning

Off-Leash Area Study

Parks & Open Space System Plan

Robinswood Park Off-Leash Area Study

SBCC - Challenge Course Expansion

Sports Field Improvements
	Newport Hills Park
	Wilburton Hill Park

Surrey Downs Park Master Planning

Bellevue Youth Theatre Construction

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Architect's rendering of the new Bellevue Youth Theatre

To better serve our community's need for more theater space and address other problems with the current Bellevue Youth Theatre, the city is constructing a new theater. To be located at Crossroads Park, the $8.8 million theater will offer versatility and environmentally friendly features. Video of planned theater

Current Status
Construction started in May 2013, with completion anticipated in summer 2014. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience during construction. We will work hard to maximize safety and minimize impacts to your use of Crossroads Park. Please note that:

Crossroads Community Center will remain open during most of the construction. However, community center parking will be detoured to the North Parking Lot at 15801 NE 15th Street.
Walking paths through the park will be impacted and sometimes detoured.

Please stay tuned to this website for construction updates.

Background
Founded in 1990, the Bellevue Youth Theatre (BYT) has grown into one of the Parks & Community Services Department's most popular programs. The theater presents 10 productions each year, entertaining thousands, and provides summer and school-break day camps and theater classes.

In 2001, under an agreement with the Bellevue School District, the theater was relocated from Crossroads Community Center to a portion of the former Ivanhoe Elementary School. BYT soon outgrew the Ivanhoe facility, and in 2005 plans were developed to renovate the school for the Youth Theatre’s needs.

However, renovation was estimated to cost approximately $2 million, with roughly half the costs needed to address building code upgrades. Escalating construction costs since 2005, together with changes to the building code, combined to increase the estimated cost of expansion at Ivanhoe to nearly $3.5 million.

The high cost, coupled with limited expansion capabilities at Ivanhoe, and the fact that the city does not own the Ivanhoe site, prompted staff to explore other expansion alternatives through a site and building feasibility study. Multiple options and locations were examined before determining that constructing a new theater at Crossroads Community Park made the most practical sense. Existing land ownership and the adjacent community center allows the two facilities to share existing parking and programming opportunities, resulting in a smaller theater footprint.

The New Theater
The new 12,000-square-foot theater will include a flexible black box theater-in-the-round that can be configured to accommodate between 100 and 150 seats. Support facilities include a box office, lobby, "green room," rehearsal space, storage and outdoor theater capabilities. The new facility will be integrated into the park with a green roof providing a natural insulator, resulting in significant energy savings while limiting the impact of stormwater runoff. The facility will be fully accessible and designed to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification standards.

A video of the planned theater and project illustrations offer additional project details. Project fact sheet and location map (updated November 2011)

Construction costs for the new theater are approximately $8.8 million. A combination of existing city funds, grants, the 2008 Parks & Natural Areas Levy funds and fundraising efforts by the Bellevue Youth Theatre Foundation will provide project funds.

The BYT Foundation supports this project in order to create capacity to continue growth of this successful program, to protect the theater’s mission of inclusiveness, to bring the theater up to standards expected of Bellevue Parks’ facilities, to fulfill the BYT business plan strategy for expansion, and to demonstrate the effectiveness of city/community partnership in the long-range vision for Bellevue. The expansion will allow the BYT to continue to serve the community for many years to come.

Cast of Bellevue Youth Theatre production

Contact Information

Parks & Community Services
PO Box 90012
Bellevue, WA 98009
Contact: Pam Fehrman
Phone: 425-452-4326
E-mail: pfehrman@bellevuewa.gov