LANSING — Local leaders behind MSUFCU Ovation want to put your name in lights on the marquee sign when the downtown performing art center opens, potentially in 2026.
The $28 million project is fully funded, largely from Lansing bonds and state appropriations, but Ovation leaders are asking for public donations as small as $25.
Local leaders mentioned the opportunity to help out on Wednesday while revealing the latest plans for the Michigan State University Federal Credit Union Ovation performing arts center going up near Lenawee Street and Washington Avenue.
The new music venue is a key part in the city’s intent to move downtown’s spirit beyond the government workers that defined it for decades, and it has been revamped for at least the third time since plans were announced in February 2022.
The latest plans, redesigned by Albert Kahn Associates in Detroit, call for an upgraded venue that will be boosted by brownfield tax money approved earlier this year. Some of the exterior design has changed but most of the basic features, including space for 2,025 people standing, remain. The main stage will be two stories and there will be a smaller performance area for theater and cinema as well as a rooftop terrace. The amenities include seven bar serving areas at Ovation.
The marquee signs will feature donor names, along with the upcoming shows, said Dominic Cochran, the founding director of Ovation, during Wednesday’s event, which took place in an existing building that will be built out first, for the Lansing Public Media Center.
“Not just the million-dollar donors,” he said, “even the people who gave $25, $50 and got a T-shirt and stickers. Those people are gonna be right up there, be able to see your name inside the venue and on the marquee.”
Private donations will help fund three projects: A mural by Max Sansing, upgraded marquee signs and a significant placemaking sign – think metal and something that screams “Lansing, Michigan.”
“We have swag also,” Cochran said. “We’re not just asking for a donation.”
The bulk of the $28 million project is funded with a $20 million city bond, which will be paid back in part with an anticipated $8 million in brownfield tax money paid by the developer, along with $7 million in state appropriations and other contributions, $1 million for naming rights by MSUFCU and $1.25 million for the audio and lighting equipment by DART Foundation. The DART donation was announced Wednesday.
Cochran said without that donation, the project would have launched with an OK sound system that could be upgraded but now they’ll have the ideal sound on Day One.
“My philosophy is everyone will check it out at least once,” he said. “But they might not give us multiple chances.”
That’s exactly how the DART Foundation saw it, too, said Jim Lammers, the foundation’s president and treasurer.
He said the first impressions would help shape the long-term prospects of the venue and the foundation was proud to help form those first impressions.
The large donations, and the entire project, came after a feasibility study that called for a “sweet spot” of a 2,000-person venue, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said.
Ovation, 520 S. Washington Ave., is intended to be a mid-sized venue, attracting the wide range of regional and national touring acts that fall between the arena and bar tiers.
It will become a home to the Lansing Public Media Center and offer multi-purpose rooms, podcaststudios, a music recording studio and creator suites for community groups and schools.
The redesign was done by Albert Kahn Associates, a storied Detroit architecture firm that designed the Detroit Opera House and the Prudden Wheel Company factory that is now the Motor Wheel Lofts in Lansing. Freund & Associates in Royal Oak will oversee construction.
Construction has begun on an existing building that will be part of the venue. Exterior construction is expected to start next year. Ticket sales will begin in early 2026 with an opening and first show anticipated for fall 2026.
Giving opportunities and merchandise are available at ovationlansing.com/support.
Contact Mike Ellis at [email protected] or 517-267-0415