Planning for the Nashua Center for the Arts began in 2015 under former Mayor Donalee Lozeau and the leadership of Brian McCarthy, then president of the Board of Alderman. The city hired Webb Management, the leading provider of advisory services for the development and operation of cultural facilities. Their initial report was delivered in spring of 2016.
In December of 2018, the Nashua Board of Aldermen officially gave the performing arts center project the greenlight, voting to approve a $15.5 million bond in support of the project. “I think the underlying purpose here is to improve Nashua’s economy, strengthen the downtown and improve the quality of life in Nashua,” Mayor Jim Donchess said. Fundraising began in earnest, led by Nashua Community Arts, with the goal of raising $4 million in support of the project.
The Center for the Arts Steering Committee met with the architects through the spring of 2019 to gather input for the design of the exterior of the building. The meetings were open to the public with several people attending each – public input was sought and welcomed during all the meetings. The committee reviewed about a dozen examples of performing arts centers across the US of the same approximate size as a starting point to gather both positive and negative feedback. It was agreed that the building should be contextual – demonstrating that it is a place where people gather for exciting entertainment, and that people on the street should be able to see activity inside – eliciting the desire to come in. The architects went through three iterations before the exterior was approved.