HoCo Arts Executive Director Coleen West joined Howard County Executive Calvin Ball, Maryland Secretary of Housing and Community Development Jake Day, State Senator Guy Guzzone, and numerous stakeholders on April 8 for the groundbreaking of the new Performing Arts Center (PAC) and Artists Flats in Downtown Columbia.
The PAC will be built on the site of Toby’s Dinner Theatre, a 46-year cultural landmark in Columbia. It will feature a 340-seat dinner theater, two 200-seat black box theaters, a public art gallery, classrooms and dance studios. HoCo Arts will manage a gallery and community black box theater as part of the project.
The PAC will complement existing Downtown venues such as the Merriweather Arts & Culture Center and the Chrysalis. Toby’s will also become part of the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts (CCTA), continuing its legacy by offering performing arts education to local youth.