Decade in the making, the Frontier Center celebrates its completion
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IDAHO FALLS — After nearly a decade in the making, the Frontier Center for the Performing Arts celebrates the completion of two major capital improvement projects.
Since 2016, the Frontier Center, previously known as the Idaho Falls Civic Auditorium, has been under construction in two phases, with the first phase focusing on its theater area.
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According to a news release from the City of Idaho Falls, these improvements focused on seating, carpeting, lighting, and the marquee. This project was funded by a partnership between the city and the Bill and Shirley Maeck Family Foundation, which contributed nearly $1.057 million. That project was in 2019.
Phase two was focused on the center’s main entrance, which Frontier Credit Union funded with a $4.4 million donation. This phase expanded the interior from 2,200 to 6,600 square feet, added more ADA-compliant restrooms, and redesigned the exterior. That phase finished this week.
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EastIdahoNews.com spoke with Lara Herway, the former executive director of the citizen committee that created the plan to improve the center.
Herway said many community members were concerned about the building’s infrastructure, which led to the creation of the citizen committee by former Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper.
“We live in an incredible community that cares about each other, and that cares about preserving our civic life and our civic infrastructure,” Herway said.
She said part of the celebration of the Frontier Center’s opening focused on remembering and honoring the late Carrie Scheid.
“Today is dedicated to Carrie. She would be thrilled with this project,” Herway said. “Without a doubt, this project would not exist without her tenacity, her vision, and her smarts.”
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Idaho Falls Mayor Lisa Burteshaw said this expansion reflects the city’s growth and the need for larger space.
She said that when the Frontier Center was first built in the early 1950s, the city was starting to grow alongside the Idaho National Laboratory, and now, as the country heads into a new nuclear renaissance, the theater is expanding once again.
“This expansion is just part of that overall growth in the city. I’m really, really excited for what it’ll mean for the next 50 years,” Burtenshaw said.
Frontier Credit Union CEO Dan Thurman said that when the city approached them about funding the center’s construction, they were excited to be involved as a community partner.
Knowing the project focused on addressing accessibility issues and on size constraints, Thurman said it fit with the bank’s motto of building better lives.
“It is beautiful. It’s exceeded my expectations,” Thurman said.