Theater shows signs of sinkhole

Repairs at Stage West Community Playhouse may cost $500,000.

By DAN DeWITT, Times Staff Writer
Published November 5, 2007

Steel Magnolias Director Maurice A. Batista instructs the cast during a rehearsal on the set at The Forum in the Stage West Community Playhouse in Spring Hill.
	[Ross Mantle | Times]

SPRING HILL - As audience members filed in for the first showing of Oliver! at Stage West Community Playhouse on Thursday night, they may have noticed the jagged cracks running up the front of the building.

Those are the most obvious signs of a sinkhole beneath the theater on Forest Oaks Boulevard. The sinkhole has also caused a gap to open between the main theater and the smaller Forum and, probably, a leak in the roof, said Harvey Lasky, president of the Stage West board of directors.

Shoring up the structure and then repairing it will cost close to $500,000, Lasky said.

Other than that, he said, the news is mostly good.

The theater's insurer will pay the bill. The sinkhole remediation company it has hired is willing to work around Stage West's rehearsals and shows, which will go on as scheduled.

Finally, Lasky said, the building is safe for performers and customers.

"They don't have to worry," he said. "Nobody is in immediate danger."

Stage West has hired Earth Tech of Land O'Lakes to fill in the spaces that have opened up beneath the theater, Lasky said, and work will begin "as soon as they can pull the permits."

Though the company could normally finish the job in about two weeks, the Stage West work may stretch to two months because of the need to fit in with the theater's production and rehearsal schedules.

Earth Tech "understands what we've got to do, and they understand that we have to stay open to the public," Lasky said.

Oliver! is the second of five shows Stage West has scheduled this season, which runs from September until May. The community theater will also stage three shows at the smaller Forum.

Once Earth Tech has finished its work, another company will repair the cracks in the building and the leaky roof, which may have been a sign that the sinkhole problem has been developing for some time. The roof has been fix repeatedly in recent years, Lasky said, but the leaks always returned and Stage West always blamed the roofing contractor. Now, members think the problem is due to the sinkhole.

It will be a relief when the roof is finally repaired, Lasky said. It was even more reassuring to learn that the insurance company would cover the cost of the repairs, which would have been devastating for a small community theater like Stage West.

"We would be one desperate group," Lasky said.

Staff writer Barbara L. Fredricksen contributed to this report. Dan DeWitt can be reached at dewitt@sptimes.com or 352 754-6116.

[Last modified November 4, 2007, 20:25:30]