By Mariel S. Clark
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A $60 million arts space designed by starchitect Frank Gehry that was slated to rise at Ground Zero will instead be built in the heart of the theater district, the mayor announced Tuesday.
The city will contribute $25 million toward the $60 million needed for the off-Broadway Signature Theatre Company to build the new center, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
The center will house three theaters, rehearsal spaces, a bookstore and café, the mayor said. It will occupy the ground floor of an $800 million, 59-story, residential building and hotel on 42nd Street and Tenth Avenue.
The theater company has raised $16 million toward the project and plans to raise the remaining $19 million.
“Signature Theatre Company is one of New York City’s most successful and fastest growing cultural groups, and its spectacular new home will allow it to continue to expand,” Bloomberg said.
Architect Frank Gehry, whose work includes the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, will design the new Signature Center.
The company was planning to move to the World Trade Center site but began looking for alternative locations when construction at Ground Zero was delayed.
Construction of the theater is expected to be finished in 2012.
