Clear Space Announces Planning & Design Team for New Performing Arts Facility
The path to Sussex County’s first purpose-built performing arts center is on step closer. Clear Space Theatre Company has announced that Marvel Architects will lead the planning and design and partner with Delaware-based GMB, providing local architecture and civil engineering expertise. Charcoalblue, a globally recognized theater planning and acoustics consultancy, rounds out the team. In the weeks to come, Marvel will begin listening sessions to help envision the new facility. The cultural and civic center will be built at the site of what is currently the Cape Henlopen Senior Center on Christian Street. The Senior Center will relocate to property on Hebron Road.
Additional information from Clear Space Theatre Company:
The milestone advances CSTC’s vision for a state‑of‑the‑art facility to be developed through a public-private partnership with the City of Rehoboth Beach on the city‑owned parcel at 11 Christian Street.
Following a competitive national search, CSTC selected Marvel Architects, the internationally recognized architecture and urban design practice, to lead facility planning and design. Marvel will partner with Delaware-based GMB, providing local architecture and civil engineering expertise, and Charcoalblue, a globally recognized theater planning and acoustics consultancy. The team is further supported by specialists in landscape architecture, structural engineering, building systems, sustainability, and other key disciplines. Together, they will design a modern, flexible, and community‑centered performing arts complex serving audiences, artists, students, and visitors throughout coastal Delaware and beyond.
A Collaborative Team to Shape the Region’s Cultural Future
CSTC Managing Director Joe Gfaller shared, “We were thrilled by the level of enthusiasm from major architects and theater designers from across the country to bring this project to life. Of the 23 firms which submitted, it was clear that Marvel brought the strongest combination of skill and experience, along with a clear understanding of the role our community will play in both the design and the future life of this exciting new facility. In the weeks to come, Marvel will begin listening sessions with constituents from across coastal Delaware. Through what they hear and learn, they will help us envision a new building that will become a postcard for our region, a source of community connection, and an economic engine for the arts in Sussex County.”
CSTC Artistic Director Wes Drummond adds, “The theater and arts centers that this team have already designed are consistently best in class. I cannot wait to see what they will create with us here in Rehoboth Beach.”
Marvel Founding Principal, Jonathan Marvel commented, “For Clear Space, the ambition extends beyond creating a new venue for performances to creating a cultural and civic place for Rehoboth Beach. Marvel and Charcoalblue bring a longstanding collaboration to this vision, with projects including the award-winning St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn; TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, Arkansas, a purpose-built home for a regional theater company organized around theaters, rehearsal and production spaces, and a public commons; Broadway’s Lyric Theatre; and current projects for the National Black Theatre in Harlem and Arts Center Lake Placid. This work demonstrates how performing arts spaces can combine artistic excellence with gathering, learning, and community life. That approach is particularly relevant in Rehoboth Beach, both a year-round community and a destination. Working with GMB, Clear Space, and the community, the team will explore how the center can engage Christian Street, contribute to downtown, and welcome people beyond performances—creating more than a theater, but a cultural commons rooted in the character of coastal Delaware.”
“GMB is excited to bring our local knowledge and experience in coastal Delaware to a cultural hub of this magnitude,” said Morgan H. Helfrich, AIA, LEED AP, GMB’s Director of Architecture. “As the local architectural and civil engineering partner, we understand the community, the coastal environment, and the agencies and processes that shape projects in Rehoboth Beach. We’re honored to help translate Clear Space’s vision into a sustainable, thoughtfully designed facility that feels at home in Rehoboth Beach and enriches Sussex County for generations to come.”
“I am so proud of everyone who has volunteered their time to reach this decision. Marvel’s motto that ‘everything must have meaning’ resonated with our board and all those who have spent countless hours giving their time, talents, and emotional bandwidth in service of a shared vision to create a meaningful beacon for the arts in Rehoboth Beach, Sussex County and the greater Delmarva region.,” said Megan Nehrbas, CSTC Board Chair.
About the Project
The new performing arts center will include a proscenium mainstage theater, a flexible black box performance space, a dedicated rehearsal studio, expanded public gathering areas, backstage support facilities, gallery space, and integrated parking solutions that support the City’s ongoing master plan for future development in Rehoboth Beach.
CSTC’s 18‑month site selection process concluded in October 2025 with the decision to accept the City of Rehoboth’s offer to house CSTC at 11 Christian Street for $1 per year lease for up to 50 years, following the relocation of the Cape Henlopen Senior Center to its new home on Hebron Road. Remaining in downtown Rehoboth Beach reaffirms the company’s commitment to the city it has called home since 2010.
The project is being guided by Maryland-based Turner & Townsend Heery, serving as CSTC’s owner’s representative. Working alongside CSTC leadership, stakeholders, and the design team, Turner & Townsend Heery is providing leadership in project planning, budgeting, scheduling, community engagement, fundraising support, design management, and coordination with local agencies and partners as the project advances through concept design and future phases of development.
With the design team now in place, CSTC will begin the next phase of project development, including community engagement, facility programming refinement, site and parking analyses, code and permitting assessments, project budgeting, and fundraising activities. These efforts will inform the development of the project’s concept design, helping to align community needs, operational goals, and site opportunities into a cohesive vision for the future facility.
A Regional Hub for the Arts
Clear Space Theatre Company extends its gratitude to the City of Rehoboth Beach, its donors, audiences, and advocates whose support has made this next step possible. Updates on the project will be available at www.clearspacetheatre.org.