Lyric Theater & Cultural Arts Center

The vision for the Lyric Theatre is unlike any facility in the city or region. The Lyric Theatre shall be a culturally vibrant asset to the entire community, which from opening day, honors the desires expressed at several public community meetings, while serving the broader community of entertainers, educators, civic leaders and citizens. The Lyric Theatre shall also skillfully integrate for-profit business practices and principles into it’s artistic mission.

The facility is located in a racially diverse area of town. Prominent African American churches and funeral homes are nearby, as well as a new elementary school, community centers, the Urban League and a medical facility operated by the University of Kentucky.

It is located within walking distance of a number of new housing developments spanning from the Midland Avenue/3rd street area, to the lofts being built on and near Main Street. The facility is also in close proximity to the campuses of the University of Kentucky, Transylvania University and the future site of the BCTCS campus.

The Lyric Theatre is uniquely positioned to be a cultural hub of activity for our city’s many diverse populations. The Lyric Theatre activities will exemplify practices of inclusion by bringing together community members, arts organizations, business entities and educational efforts. Through this facility, we will demonstrate that honoring the historic past of a people, gives a strong foundation upon which to build a more positive community for the future.

The Lyric Theatre is located in an area rich with African American History. This history converges with the history of the broader community. The second horseracing track, in this the Horse Racing Capitol of the World, was located in the community near the Lyric Theatre location. The African American Museum portion of the facility is uniquely positioned to include this and other regional history of African Americans and Kentuckians alike.

There is also ample exhibit space for a variety of permanent and traveling exhibits of various genres recognizing a great diversity of many cultural and community perspectives.

The restoration of the Lyric will be LEED Certified building in Lexington. The facility features two performance spaces. The first is the 550 seat theatre located in the renovated historic building. It will have an expanded stage which accommodates music and dance performance, plays, film/video screenings, and speakers.

The smaller performance area and multi-purpose space, located in the new building extension, accommodates audiences of 145-180. If Chairs only should accommodate a maximum of 300.The staging area is suitable for poetry performance, dance, musicians, disc jockeys and speakers. This same space will be used for receptions, meetings and other gatherings.