Seattle Theatre Group celebrated the grand opening of Kerry Hall on Saturday, marking the successful preservation and revitalization of a historic Capitol Hill arts facility that students fought to save from sale after Cornish College of the Arts announced plans to divest the property.
The reopening of Kerry Hall represents a significant victory for Capitol Hill’s arts community, which mobilised when Cornish College of the Arts revealed intentions to sell the century-old building on East Roy Street as part of financial restructuring efforts. Student activists recognised the facility’s cultural value and organised a preservation campaign that ultimately connected them with Seattle Theatre Group as a partner capable of acquiring and operating the space for continued arts programming.
Kerry Hall will host dance and movement workshops, live music performances, community showcases and family-friendly activities at its location that has served the arts for more than a century. The programming mix positions the venue as an accessible community resource emphasising participation and creation rather than exclusively presenting ticketed performances.
Public officials including Seattle City Council members joined community members on 15 November for a ribbon-cutting ceremony around 11 a.m. that formally inaugurated the revitalised space. The celebration continued throughout the day with an art market, dance performances, and additional programming that introduced the community to the facility’s capabilities.
“STG celebrates a vibrant new chapter with Kerry Hall, a space that centres creativity, connection, and community,” Seattle Theatre Group representatives stated on Saturday, articulating the organisation’s vision for the venue as a gathering place fostering artistic practice and community engagement.
The student-led preservation effort that saved Kerry Hall from sale demonstrates the power of grassroots advocacy to influence institutional decisions and shape urban cultural landscapes. When Cornish College of the Arts announced plans to sell the property, students recognising the building’s historical significance and ongoing community value organised petition drives, public demonstrations, and outreach to potential preservation partners. Their efforts created public pressure whilst simultaneously identifying Seattle Theatre Group as an entity with both the resources to acquire the facility and the mission alignment to operate it for continued arts programming.
Seattle Theatre Group’s acquisition of Kerry Hall extends the organisation’s presence beyond its flagship venues including the Paramount Theatre, Moore Theatre, and Neptune Theatre, establishing STG operations directly on Capitol Hill and diversifying programming capacity across neighbourhood contexts. The addition provides smaller, more intimate space particularly suited to workshops, rehearsals, and community gatherings that complement STG’s larger performance venues designed primarily for ticketed productions serving broader regional audiences.
The century-old building’s history predates its association with Cornish College of the Arts, having served various educational and cultural functions throughout Capitol Hill’s transformation from residential suburb to dense urban neighbourhood recognised as Seattle’s arts and LGBTQ+ cultural centre. The preservation maintains architectural heritage whilst adapting interior spaces for contemporary arts programming needs including proper flooring for dance, acoustic treatments for music, and flexible configurations supporting diverse activities.
The planned programming emphasising dance and movement workshops addresses particularly valuable needs in urban arts ecosystems where affordable rehearsal and instruction space remains chronically scarce. Dancers and choreographers struggle to secure appropriate spaces with proper sprung floors, full-length mirrors, quality sound systems, and room dimensions necessary for safe, effective practice. Commercial real estate costs make dedicated dance studios increasingly unviable, whilst existing facilities operate at capacity with waiting lists for rental time. Kerry Hall’s allocation to these activities fills critical gaps in Seattle’s dance infrastructure.
Live music programming at Kerry Hall will likely focus on smaller, more intimate performances complementing the larger concert productions STG presents at venues like the Moore and Neptune. The space provides opportunities for emerging artists, niche genres with dedicated but limited audiences, and community music events that might not generate sufficient ticket revenue to justify booking larger theatres but serve important cultural functions.
