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May 5, 2025
OSHKOSH – Plans are in place and discussions are being held to lay the groundwork for the start of a capital campaign to raise money for renovations and upgrades at The Grand Oshkosh.
Though some of the planned renovations are new to the conversation, Joe Ferlo, The Grand Oshkosh president/CEO, said some of what is being planned was originally considered to be the second phase of a two-phase project back in late 2007-09.
Between the two phases of the project, while the structure was being evaluated to prepare for the installation of a new fire sprinkler system, Ferlo said engineers discovered some structural flaws in the main roof trusses of the opera house.
He said The Grand was closed for emergency repairs Feb. 27, 2009, and reopened Sept. 16, 2010.
Since then, Ferlo said, some of the phase-two projects have been completed, but not all of them.
“It has taken a lot longer to get from point A to point B – from 2009 to now,” he said. “We put in the Grand Lounge and suite seats, which are premium seats in the balcony. New signage, which involved the new marquee and the electronic message center, was also done. The next phase we’re looking at is the next logical step, but this has been a conversation and evolution for a good 15 years.”
Ferlo said the real linchpin for The Grand happened about three years ago when the City of Oshkosh advanced its timetable to renovate and expand its transit center.
“That expansion involved the property where The Grand’s offices were,” he said. “In essence, we got nudged along by the pending expansion of the transit center. That led us to start discussing where we were going to put the offices and so forth.”
Ferlo said he and others began looking at smaller versions of their original plans and what they might be able to do within the existing footprint of The Grand, but they ran into one snag after another.
“We started asking ourselves what would happen if we took all of the things we wanted to do at The Grand in that second phase and over the years – audience comforts, infrastructure things and (some of the decor, including a lot of the things that had been restored in 1986),” he said. “But a lot of those fixtures – seats, wallpaper and the main restrooms – are now 40-plus years old.”
Ferlo said the city’s downtown redevelopment plan involved a broader, bigger Opera House Square across the street from The Grand.
He said they wondered what would happen if they took that opportunity to make The Grand the gateway of Opera House Square and did it in a transformational way.
Rick Hearden, Eastern Wisconsin region president for Bremer Bank and board of directors chair for The Grand Oshkosh, said as the centerpiece of downtown redevelopment, “The Grand Oshkosh will become a driving force for the city’s future.”
“The more visitors we can bring to downtown Oshkosh with shows and special events, the better off all businesses in Oshkosh will be,” he said. “More people downtown means more business and energy for many local businesses such as hotels, restaurants, bars, museums, retail stores, etc. It also means a better quality of life for our entire community.”
The plan in a nutshell
The current building, Ferlo said, has several slightly different levels, depending on where in the building you’re going.
He said you may have to go up a few steps to get to one place, then down a few steps to get to another, etc. – and for people with mobility issues, that can be a challenge.
“Once the project is done, and you come in, that will be the new main entrance right off the parking lot on the west side of the building, you’re in a level or ramped area from the moment you come in the door until you get to the entrance to the theater,” he said. “The experience for people who don’t want to or can’t do stairs, or who are in a wheelchair, will be tremendously improved. That’s more than a subtle change for that building.”
The main entrance to the building, Ferlo said, will be moved from High Avenue to the building’s west side, right off a parking lot.
By moving the entrance, he said there will also be improved safety for patrons attending The Grand for a function because people won’t have to enter and exit their vehicles on High Avenue.
“That’s going to be a real game-changer in terms of public safety,” he said, adding that the building’s entry/exit will be covered, making it a plus during inclement weather.
Ferlo said other renovations include:
- Doubling the lounge size as well as the Grand Lounge size – which will also offer a deck that will run almost the entire length of the building, providing an indoor/outdoor experience, weather permitting
- Two new bars and a catering prep area that will make it easier to serve foods currently offered in the bar – pizza, sandwiches, etc. – and to more easily accommodate caterers working a Donor Appreciation dinner, or someone hosting a wedding or other gathering at the theater
- A wide-open staircase with two large, William Waters-type archways and a skylight above, putting natural light into the lobby and the lounge
- New windows designed to architecturally mimic the William Waters-designed windows in front of The Grand
- A covered and level entryway, with ADA accessibility
- The elevator will be turned around from its current direction and be improved, along with a functional elevator lobby
- Restrooms will be moved back further and enlarged, making them better suited for larger audiences
- New, larger audience seats
- A new loading area that will accommodate large pieces of scenery or set designs, as the maximum width of the current loading doors is three feet, six inches wide
- Upgraded dressing rooms, the green room and performers’ bathrooms
- A Donor Lounge with its own outdoor deck where larger donors can enjoy a more premium experience, while also doubling as a boardroom or meeting room, which will help raise their level of fundraising
- A new sound system
- Expanded parking directly to the west of the building, part of which is currently occupied by a photography studio – which the city will acquire and help relocate their business
Aaron Deimund, marketing manager at Amcor and a board member for The Grand Oshkosh, said Amcor cares that The Grand is updated because “we’re focused on what our employees want.”
“How do we build culture within the community and build employee engagement to make sure our employees have what they want within the community, not just at work?” he said.
Deimund said Amcor also sponsors The Grand’s Student Discovery Series, of which his daughter attended a show through when she was six years old.
“Her face lit up, and she talked about it – her reaction was just awesome,” Deimund said. “That’s another big reason why Amcor really cares about The Grand. It helps bridge a connection with kids and helps provide educational outreach and gives other unique experiences certain school districts might not necessarily provide exposure to. That’s a big thing we pride ourselves on as a company.”
Changing times require flexibility
Ferlo said making the Grand Lounge and lobby bigger will also allow The Grand to offer different kinds of programming much more frequently than merely putting on the larger shows usually held on weekends.
He said performances are not always on stage, so theaters have to find or create new streams of revenue.
“Coming out of the (COVID-19) pandemic, most arts organizations – big, small and everything in between – are realizing that the idea of putting 500-2,000 people in the audience in the dark isn’t the only way to make these places work,” he said. “We have to work on specialty events and create different experiences.”
Ferlo said there is a generation of audiences – younger audiences – who aren’t necessarily, as a first choice, going to go sit for a two-hour show.
“They (can) have a different sort of experience, like what we’re going to do in our Grand Lounge – where they can sit in a smaller group and see a cabaret-style or a lounge-style act, where they can get up and walk around, get something to drink, etc.,” he said. “Or maybe it’s a comedy club atmosphere. It’s a different mix between the ticket sales and the sale of other things to the audience while they’re in your hall.”
With the industry changing, Ferlo said “you either fight it or you evolve.”
“I’m really pleased with the leadership at The Grand, because they’re all in (to adapt) and to this plan (that’s) evolving the organization,” he said. “I think it’s going to be transformational – not just for the way The Grand does business, but for The Grand’s ability to move traffic downtown, especially in the way traffic’s going to flow more days a week in and around Opera House Square (once this renovation is done).”
From a business side, Ferlo said it’s going to take the 140 days of performances per year already happening and add 60-80 days to that.
“I’ll be able to program the Lounge (early in the week with bingo, karaoke or trivia nights or a comedy act or jazz night event, etc.) on off days or nights,” he said. “Suddenly, The Grand can be open for something not just on the weekends, but four or five days a week – maybe more with something that brings a crowd in, and in many cases, on a night when the theater isn’t even being used. It’s a brand-new, very compelling business model.”
The projected cost and timeline
Ferlo said the estimated renovations come with a $10 million price tag – half of which will be raised by The Grand and the remainder paid for by the city, which owns The Grand.
Despite being in a quiet phase of fundraising, Ferlo said many conversations are happening between himself and business leaders.
“Those conversations will soon turn into asks, but still quietly, to a small group of people who we hope can make compelling investments,” he said. “That will happen through the summer and into the fall. Ideally, we’ll reach a certain threshold in pledges where we’ll then go public.”
Ferlo said people will then have the opportunity to buy a brick, or something along those lines, as a way of contributing.
“There will be opportunities and different levels for everyone to be able to get involved,” he said. “I expect that will happen around the holiday season this year. The goal is we’ll reach the $5 million level, which is our half of the pledge, before the end of this calendar year.”
Ferlo said the city will then activate its $5 million, which is already budgeted for, and the project will be put out for bid, probably in early 2026.
“Sometime around April or May 2026, we’ll break ground,” he said. “The project will then take another 12-16 months to get everything done. During that time, I’ll be programming off-site. We won’t go dark – we’ll just take The Grand on the road, as we did for a year when the roof crisis hit. It’s not something new to us.”
Only difference this time around in regard to renovations, Ferlo said The Grand gets to plan for it a little more.
“We’ll have a season of some sort that happens in venues I’m still researching,” Ferlo said. “Then in fall 2027, we’ll hopefully be cutting the ribbon on One Opera House Square.”
For folks who worry the renovations and modernization may take something away from how The Grand has always been or always looked, he said, “The Grand is a one-of-a-kind jewel box of a theater. I wouldn’t ever dream of changing how it looks or taking away the magic from the young people and young-at-heart who visit.”
For more information on The Grand, visit thegrandoshkosh.org.
