The Center
The Long Center for the Performing Arts serves the Austin community as a home for its arts. Please take a moment to learn about where the center has been and where we are going. Also see the episode of Downtown featuring the Long Center.
In November 1998, Austin voters approved a plan to allow the Palmer Auditorium, built in 1959 on the shores of Town Lake, to be renovated into a multi-venue community performing arts center by a nonprofit entity then known as Arts Center Stage. The original plan was a four-venue, $110 million construction project, but due to a three-year economic recession, the Long Center re-scaled its project. On October 24, 2003, a new plan was unveiled that would include an initial two-theatre facility for $77 million, including hard and soft construction costs, operating capital through its inaugural year, and a $10 million endowment. The "Adaptive Re-use" Long Center will be built in two phases - Phase I now complete at South First Street & Riverside Drive and Phase II to be built in the near future consisting of the Topfer Theater and a Recital/Rehearsal Hall. The Long Center celebrated its grand opening in March of 2008. To learn more click here >>
The Long Center for the Performing Arts is founded on the belief that the performing arts are essential components in the quality of life of our community. Our performing arts organizations - from the smallest to the largest - deserve and need facilities that reflect their contribution to the culture of our community.
Therefore, our mission is to manage a state-of-the-art, multi-venue facility that will host the broad spectrum of Austin's performing arts organizations >>
The Long Center for the Performing Arts has many vested civic and cultural benefits to offer Austin and Central Texas. In addition to improving the overall quality of life and increasing the understanding of diverse cultures and ways of life, the Long Center will contribute to the education and development of over 100,000 Central Texas school children. Children are not the only ones touched by the project, as lifelong learning among adults and the preservation of cultural heritage are among some of the other benefits it carries >>
The Long Center is fortunate to name these dedicated individuals as the driving force behind this remarkable project >>
Completed in early 2008, the Long Center's consturction was handled by international experts. Take a look at how this dream became a reality >>
The Long Center for the Performing Arts provides a state-of-the-art venue for a broad array of regional performing arts groups, Texas musicians, and a permanent home to the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Austin Lyric Opera and Ballet Austin. Underscoring the Long Centers’ mission to make the arts accessible to everyone, the facility also includes the AT&T Foundation Education Rooms for community arts education programs, workshops, and meetings >>
The Long Center for the Performing Arts provides a permanent home for the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Austin Lyric Opera, and Ballet Austin. The Long Center is proud and excited to work with these three established, professional, and inspiring groups to give Austin the performing arts home it deserves >>
The Long Center provides a hub for our community and region, offering a variety of performance venues, spaces for both private and corporate special events, meetings, conferences, and multiple interior and exterior entertainment venues >>
The Long Center for the Performing Arts is quickly becoming a window into the rapidly growing performing arts community in Central Texas and we're working hard every day to keep you informed about our progress >>
Click here to meet the Long Center staff >>
Keeping in close contact with the community is key to the success of the Long Center for the Performing Arts. If you have ideas to share, questions to ask or would like to lend a hand, we'd love to hear from you >>