Journey Theater is embarking on its next venture: a series of projects intended to transform a local church into its permanent venue. The nonprofit youth theater program plans to begin a major renovation of Manor Evangelical Church, southwest of Battle Ground, as early as June, relying on community support to transform the space into a long-term home.
For 24 years, Journey Theater has supported young performers across Southwest Washington and into Portland, offering classes, camps and productions in acting, singing and dance. Since its founding, the program has worked with more than 10,000 students, but has never had a permanent home, instead moving between schools, churches and rented venues.
“That model has just become unsustainable in the last couple of years,” Journey Theater Executive Director Stephen Pick said.
That search for stability led Journey Theater to Manor Evangelical Church about 18 months ago. What began as a pilot performance quickly grew into a partnership, with church leadership and its congregation embracing the energy and activity the program brought into the building.
“They just fell in love with the kids, you know, we have kids ages 6 to 18, and it's an older congregation that was just excited to have activity and noise in the building again, and to… have a ministry for kids,” Pick said.
Since then, Journey Theater has started improving the space piece by piece. One of the most noticeable upgrades is a renovated dance room, now equipped with a dedicated dance floor, mirrors and ballet bars, giving students tools they have not consistently had before.
“It's really helpful to see what your body is doing when you're learning dance so that you know if you're actually doing it correctly, you're doing the moves,” Pick said.
Those early improvements are just the beginning. Leaders are now focused on what they call phase one, a larger construction effort expected to cost roughly $300,000 to $400,000. The project centers on installing a tiered seating system in the sanctuary, replacing the flat floor to improve audience visibility.
“It (currently) doesn't allow people to see the kids very well on stage because you're looking through the head of the audience member in front of you,” Pick said.
In addition to seating, phase one includes reworking the stage for accessibility and opening up backstage areas to accommodate large casts. Currently, the stage sits about two feet off the ground and backstage space is divided into small classrooms, limiting movement and preparation space for performers.
Journey Theater leaders estimate the first phase could take three to four months to complete once construction begins. They are about halfway to their fundraising goal, through the support of sponsors and individual community members, and hope to start work in June.
Future phases will depend on continued support. Plans include upgrades to lighting, sound and curtains, as well as improvements to the lobby, parking and the addition of a dedicated workshop for setpiece adjustments. Some elements originally planned for phase one could be delayed if funding requires alterations.
Even with construction ahead, performances will continue as scheduled. This spring, “Pride and Prejudice” will run May 8 through May 16, followed by “Seussical” from May 28 through June 6, both at Manor Evangelical Church. “Into the Woods” will take the stage July 31 through Aug. 8 at Heritage High School.
“We've been thoughtful about that ahead of time to leave ourselves a window of construction,” Pick said.
For Journey Theater, the renovation is about creating a consistent space that allows staff and volunteers to focus less on logistics and more on serving students.
“A place to call home, and having a consistent space is gonna free up a lot of energy and bandwidth for our staff and our volunteers,” Pick said.
More information about performances is available at journeytheater.org. Those interested in supporting the renovation can donate at journeytheater.app.neoncrm.com/forms/donate.
