The Performing Arts Center at the University of Hawaii at Hilo will soon be getting a makeover.

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The Performing Arts Center at the University of Hawaii at Hilo will soon be getting a makeover.

A $6 million renovation project is scheduled to take place next year.

The center’s manager, Lee Barnette-Dombroski, said the building, which hosts dozens of productions and community events every year, has changed very little throughout its over 50-year lifespan.

“I’ve been here 20 years, just about, and when I arrived, the current carpet was being put in, and the current seating was being installed, and there was some sort of touch-up painting done here and there,” she said.

Barnette-Dombroski said that while the building has remained structurally sound, it is in need of some upgrades and maintenance, which will be the focus of the renovation.

“A lot of it is kind of cosmetic, but it’s the public-facing areas, so we’ll have lobby work, exterior work, a little bit of work inside the auditorium, the seating area, and then … basic things like doors and paint,” Barnette-Dombroski said. “You know, sprucing up, just some love for our long-time lady theater — she hasn’t had much love in a number of years, so it’ll be nice to have a freshening.”

In addition to paint, Barnette-Dombroski said the work will include replacing the carpet and remodeling the building’s original 1974 bathrooms, along with more subtle changes like switching to LED lighting and adding a two-way intercom to the box office that will allow for more efficient use of the space.

“It’s one of those things where I’m not expecting a huge reaction from people when they first come in,” Barnette-Dombroski said. “What they’ll react to is that we’ll have new carpet, which will be very different from the old carpet, and they’ll see that and see a fresh space. But it’s the little things that make a big difference, and if people don’t even notice them, it’s okay.”

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The work is anticipated to begin in January 2027 and run through August, during which time the building will be closed. While Barnette-Dombroski said she is saddened the center will not be able to host its usual slate of events, she views it as a necessary and overall beneficial trade-off.

“We hate to be closed because we won’t have, you know, the community in and out and the university folks in and out as much, and that’s what we’re all about,” she said. “So, it’s kind of like you sacrifice one for the other.”

However, she said there are plans for a condensed fall 2026 “mini-season” which will include several performances from visiting artists as well as a production of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” in November.

“We want to make sure that we go out with a bit of a bang, so that folks remember we exist,” Barnette-Dombroski said.

She said people should expect a return to a full schedule when the renovations are complete, as well as some potential bonus events to celebrate the center’s reopening and introduce the new space — which she said she hopes will maintain the welcoming atmosphere that has been fostered over the past half century.

“We’ll have a full season (in 2027/2028). We’ll try to do some special kinds of things to … you know, welcome everybody back,” she said. “I hope that when folks come back in, they will feel that it’s a refreshed space and feel it’s welcoming … our welcoming of the community won’t change at all.”

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Email Grace Inez Adams at [email protected].