YMCA renovations give new life to two performance venues

Performers returning to Hempel Auditorium this summer found a room that looked, sounded, and functioned differently from the one that closed for renovations last year.

The turquoise chairs were gone. New flooring, lighting, acoustic panels, and audiovisual equipment had been installed. Backstage, two former dressing rooms had been combined into a larger space that can accommodate rehearsals, meetings, and pre-performance gatherings.

Outside, the Kathie Mennel Amphitheater received its own upgrades, including replacement benches, improved erosion control, and a paved route designed to make the venue more accessible to people who use wheelchairs.

The two philanthropic projects represent a combined investment of $930,000 at YMCA of the Rockies. The Hempel Auditorium renovation cost $755,000, while work at the Kathie Mennel Amphitheater totaled $175,000. Lead donors for the Hempel project included Kathy and Jon Cox and another donor family, while John and Lauri Mennel funded the amphitheater renovation.

The improvements were completed as part of Climbing Higher, a five-year fundraising campaign launched by YMCA of the Rockies in early 2024. The campaign has raised more than $63 million toward projects at Estes Park Center, Snow Mountain Ranch, and Camp Chief Ouray.

“The Climbing Higher campaign is a five-year, transformational fundraising campaign,” said Chelsea Thompson, director of philanthropy communications and impact for the YMCA of the Rockies. “These projects were really chosen because we saw a need for an improved venue for some of our performing arts facilities.”

A more flexible indoor venue

Hempel Auditorium has long served as an indoor home for concerts, theatrical productions, lectures, and other one-night events.

“Concerts and music performances are probably the primary purpose in the past and in the future,” said Susan Taylor, program director at YMCA of the Rockies. “You name it, if we need an indoor space for a performer or a special speaker, it’s a great spot for it.”

Renovations began around November and were substantially completed by late May, allowing audiences to return at the start of the summer season.

The changes included new chairs, flooring, track lighting, wall-mounted acoustic treatments, and updated sound and audiovisual systems. The lobby and bathrooms also received new finishes. The acoustic panels are intended to improve the listening experience inside the room, while the new technology is designed to be easier for visiting performers and YMCA staff to operate.

“The audiovisual is a really big deal, making sure that we’ve got the right equipment to make the quality what it needs to be and that it’s simple and easy for folks to use,” Taylor said.

Backstage, the YMCA retained one dressing room but removed two others to create a larger, more flexible room. Expanded windows bring additional light into a space that can now function as a green room, rehearsal studio, meeting room, or gathering area.

Taylor said performance spaces require different considerations from the recreational and program facilities she has helped renovate during her seven years as program director.

“You have to think about what the performers need and require,” she said. “This green room is one of those things that’s really nice to have as a staging area or rehearsal space.”

Accessibility drives amphitheater project

The Kathie Mennel Amphitheater required a different kind of overhaul.

After years of outdoor use, its wooden benches had begun to deteriorate. The YMCA replaced them with a more durable material and upgraded the venue’s audiovisual equipment.

“It needed a facelift,” Taylor said. “So we installed all new benches and AV equipment, and then I think the biggest thing there was we made it ADA accessible.”

New wheelchair parking areas and a paved ramp now offer a more direct route into the amphitheater. Additional pavement also helps manage runoff and erosion around the outdoor seating area.

“We installed parking spaces for wheelchair accessibility and then a paved ramp so people could access it a little bit more easily and have it be open to everybody,” Taylor said.

Although work on the auditorium and amphitheater happened during the same period, Taylor said they were separate projects with different builders and scopes.

The outdoor venue hosts YMCA music throughout the summer. Cowboy Brad performs there on Wednesdays when weather permits, and a concert series draws crowds on Thursday evenings. Taylor said audiences often dance, move around the grounds, and leave and return during performances.

“It’s not a quiet, sit-down concert usually out here,” she said. “It’s more family-friendly with lots of dancing and walking around.”

Building arts programming year-round

YMCA of the Rockies offers music nearly every night during the summer, often drawing audiences of 100 people or more, Taylor said. The organization’s connection to the visual arts reaches back to artist residency programs that began in the 1940s and were expanded in 2021 under the Arts at Altitude banner.

The renovated venues are intended to support that history while creating opportunities for additional concerts, speakers, and cultural programming, particularly during the quieter months outside the summer tourism season.

“The goal is to grow art and culture and music programming at the Y because there’s a lot of interest and desire to see that, especially in the offseason,” Taylor said.

That growth could include Christmas concerts, partnerships with Estes Park organizations, returning traditions such as the Cleveland Pops, and platforming performers who have not previously had a suitable place to appear at the YMCA.

“Having those spaces is key to that,” Taylor said. “There is a lot of support, interest, passion, and community around the YMCA’s arts programs, and renovating these spaces allows us to expand on that.”