Triumvirate Theatre has roughly $3.2 million to work with for the construction of a new playhouse in Kenai. That’s per Triumvirate Theatre President Joe Rizzo, who updated members of the Kenai City Council about the project during the body’s Wednesday meeting.

That meeting came the day after the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday threw its support behind the theater’s rebuilding efforts. The group, which operates under the name of the Alaska Children’s Institute for the Performing Arts, has been fundraising for a new facility since its former playhouse burned down in February 2021.

Passed on Tuesday unanimously by assembly members was a resolution sponsored by Assembly Vice President Tyson Cox, whose daughter participates in Triumvirate programming, supporting construction efforts in Kenai. Citing Triumvirate as a “cultural asset” to the community, the resolution further says a new theater will increase economic development and tourism in the area.

“Local children and youth will be empowered to (develop) their talents through programs operating in this new performing arts center,” the legislation says.

Rizzo on Wednesday testified before the Kenai City Council during that body’s meeting to give them an update on the project. The Kenai City Council in 2021 conditionally donated a 2-acre piece of land near Daubenspeck Park on which the Triumvirate will construct a new playhouse. The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission in January approved the permits for that project.

Rizzo told council members that the land donation made a big difference in fundraising efforts.

“When we went out and asked for support from other foundations, just getting that street cred of having the municipality supporting it and putting real property up as a show of that support was a big deal for us,” Rizzo said.

Following the recent award of a $400,000 grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Rizzo said Triumvirate has at its disposal for construction of a new playhouse about $3.2 million.

That figure also includes about $800,000 in local donations and small foundations, $1 million from the Rasmuson Foundation and $1 million secured by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the federal Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2023, Rizzo told council members in January.

Council members on Wednesday voiced their support for Triumvirate’s efforts.

Kenai City Council member Alex Douthit told Rizzo on Wednesday that the building Triumvirate previously operated out of in north Kenai was his grandfather’s automotive shop in 1960s and 1970s.

“It’s pretty exciting to go from where you guys were … to where you guys are going to be now in a, pretty much, state-of-the-art building for these kids to express themselves,” Douthit said. “I think it’s going to be a great community asset.”

A request for proposals from construction firms interested in helping build the new theater went out on Friday, and Rizzo said he hopes for site excavation work to be done by the fall.

A playhouse design presented to the Kenai Planning and Zoning Commission earlier this year describes a $4.7 million facility that is two stories with an audience capacity of 150 people. There would be approximately 63 parking spots and one driveway access along Daubenspeck Circle near Beacon Occupational Health.

More information about Triumvirate Theatre can be found on the group’s website at triumvirate.org.

Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.