TimeLine Theatre Company celebrates opening of new location in Uptown, $46 million project

CHICAGO (WLS) -- TimeLine Theatre Company is celebrating the opening of their new location in Uptown.

The theatre company has largely been operating out of a church, and now it finally has a permanent home.

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It was a proud moment for one of the founders.

"It's been 29 years since we started the company," artistic director PJ Powers said. "Six formers students from DePaul University's theatre school who dreamed big to create a new theater company that explores history and connected it with the issues of today."

TimeLine has repurposed a former warehouse along Broadway Avenue in the city's North Side. The site is 21,000 square feet. It includes a 250-seat theater, a bar, cafe and patio, a gallery, and rehearsal and public spaces.

The $46 million project was made possible through donations and funding from the state and city. Mayor Brandon Johnson was present at the ribbon cutting ceremony.

"Uptown has always been one of Chicago's most vibrant cultural corridors, and today TimeLine joins a proud tradition in this neighborhood," Johnson said. "Arts and cultural spaces, like this new theater, are not luxuries. They are important spaces that connect out communities."

The new site allows for TimeLine Theatre Company to continue its mission to highlight social and political issues through storytelling. It is opening the door for the next generation of artists.

"I got my start at TimeLine when I was just 9 years old, playing young Queen Elizabeth in the play 'The Audience,' and I later returned for 'What the Constitution Means to Me,' so TimeLine feels like home," performer Sophie Ackerman said.

Performances at the new theatre are set to begin in May.

"We want young people to first and foremost feel like this is a space for them," Powers said. "And to know that they can have a place in theater and they have a voice in making art."