Photo Courtesy of Anthony Mullin
Inside the Sterling Opera House in Derby.
DERBY – Two appointed groups and the city’s elected legislative body all voted this month to recommended a consultant be hired to help the city transform the Sterling Opera House.
The Sterling Opera House Consultant Selection Committee voted unanimously Feb. 3 to recommend that Steinberg Hart, a New York City-based firm, be hired as a project’s consultant. The recommendation was made to both the Sterling Opera House Commission and the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen. Only the Alders have the power to approve contracts in Derby, or authorize the mayor to sign.
The commission voted Feb. 6 while the Alders unanimously approved the recommendation at a meeting Feb. 13.
The Sterling Opera House Commission has been working for a few years to get the historic Sterling Opera House on Elizabeth Street renovated. The goal is to renovate the interior and put the building back to use.
The group has access to a $100,000 grant from the state secured by Rep. Mary Welander.
A nonprofit is also being created to collect donations for the project.
Derby issued a request for proposals for the opera house in November 2024.
Eight companies responded. The selection committee interviewed four firms Feb. 3 and gave the green light to Steinberg Hart at the end of the meeting.
The company’s history goes back about 70 years and has more than 300 projects in its portfolio, according to the proposal the company submitted to city hall.
The company’s past projects include The Pablo Center, a performing arts center in Eau Claire, Wisc., and The Children’ Museum in the same city. The firm also designed the renovation of Neidorff-Karpati Hall at the Manhattan School of Music, and the Harvey Theater at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
The team at Steinberg Hart includes partners who have prior experience with the Sterling Opera House, a 136-year-old building that once housed a performing arts center, then government offices and a jail, but has been vacant for decades.
Two Steinberg Hart consultants, Duncan Webb and Alec Stole, previously worked on a 2002 comprehensive study of the opera house.
The Steinberg Hart proposal, which is available to the public here, generally describes the process the company will use to tackle the opera house.
Task one is to conduct a review and assessment of the building. That includes looking at previous studies and evaluating everything from the electrical system to the plumbing.
“Potential improvements to the building systems and their costs will be identified. The building will be evaluated for compliance with current accessibility standards and deficiencies noted,” according to the proposal.
Task two involves a “needs assessment update.” It includes updating a previous assessment and a new, updated market study.
“The team will identify forces and trends in the market that may have a bearing on the renovation of the Sterling Opera House, update the 2002 market analysis, identify comparable facilities in the region, and research touring programs presenting in other facilities in the region,” according to the Steinberg Hart proposal. Task two also promises recommendations on programming, capacity, and amenities.
Task three involves a capital improvement plan. That refers to how much money is needed to make the renovation a reality.
“The study team will develop options for how to best achieve the established goals and identify anticipated general costs for the options,” the proposal states. “Cost information will include hard construction costs and soft project costs including equipment, contingencies, and potential professional fees.”
Derby government will be involved in the process each step of the way, the submission notes.
The three tasks should be completed by mid-June, according to Steinberg Hart.
Steinberg Hart quoted a “base price” of $100,000 for its services.
The company also listed three potential “add on” services:
* $18,500 for a plan on sustaining the operation
* $15,500 for a plan on opera house governance
* $12,500 for an in-depth dive into programming at the opera house.
Learn more about the add on services by reading the image below:
The members of the selection committee included:
Aldermen/Alderwomen:
Robert Hyder
Amy Pettinicchi
Sterling Opera House Commission:
Brian Coppolo
Gino DiGiovanni
Dana Serna
Theater Professionals:
Joseph Mingolello – Architect
Sean Sullivan – Center Stage Theater
Matthew Welander – Yale University Theater Professor (husband of Rep. Welander)
The members of the Sterling Opera House Commission include (source):
Dana Florenza
Brian Coppolo
Gino DiGiovanni Jr.
Carleigh Paecht
Karleen Guluzzy
FOI Confusion
The selection committee’s Feb. 3 meeting had issues with the state’s Freedom of Information Act. The committee had publicly advertised the meeting as an executive session, which is a type of meeting closed to the public.
Commissions and committees can do that when its members are talking about lawsuits, real estate deals, contracts and specific employees.
When the selection committee motioned to enter executive session, DiGiovanni invited in a few members of the public who were either current or previous members of the opera house commission.
Marc Garofalo, the Derby town/city clerk, questioned whether that was fair, because the meeting was advertised as being an executive session with members of the selection committee (not the separate opera house commission).
DiGiovanni said that boards can invite anyone they want into executive session.
Eventually the selection committee had Steinberg Hart and three other companies present in public, and allowed questions from the public. However, the group went into executive session so that the members of the selection committee could ask their questions to the firms in private.
By state law – upheld through court decisions and the state’s Freedom of Information Commission — boards and commissions are not allowed to invite anyone they want into executive session. There are limits. Click here for more info. Click here to listen to the Feb. 3 meeting.
Alders Approve
Members of the Derby Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen unanimously approved hiring Steinberg Hart at a meeting held Feb. 13.
Brian Coppolo, a member of the Sterling Opera House Commission, asked that the selection committee be removed from the motion to approve. He said recommending a consultant was the responsibility of the commission, as outlined in the ordinance that created the commission. The Alders approved the motion as presented, with both appointed groups mentioned.
Gino DiGiovanni, Jr., a member of the commission, read a letter attributed to Dana Florenza, the commission’s chairwoman.
“They (Steinberg Hart) are a leader in the industry, having many decades of experience in historical theater restoration,” DiGiovanni said.
