The City of Idaho Falls will hold a ribbon cutting and public celebration for the newly completed Frontier Center for the Performing Arts on April 22 at 4 p.m. The event, open to media and community members, marks the end of years of planning, fundraising, and renovation efforts aimed at preserving and updating one of eastern Idaho’s key cultural venues.
The reopening is significant because it ensures that the center can continue serving as a regional hub for arts and community events. The facility has hosted Broadway productions, concerts, recitals, graduations, and performances by the Idaho Falls Symphony since its original construction in the early 1950s.
Efforts to modernize began in 2016 when then-Mayor Rebecca Casper formed citizen committees to assess long-term needs. A volunteer group created a multi-phase plan focusing on accessibility, safety, capacity improvements, and maintaining the venue’s role as a cultural anchor. Phase I was completed in 2019 with upgrades such as new seating and carpet, acoustic improvements, updated lighting, and a new marquee—funded through city partnership and a $1 million donation from the Bill and Shirley Maeck Family Foundation.
Phase II included major renovations funded by a $4.4 million gift from Frontier Credit Union through a capital campaign led by the Civic Center for the Performing Arts Foundation. These updates expanded public spaces like increasing lobby size from about 2,200 square feet to over 6,600 square feet; redesigned entrances; improved drop-off areas; and added ADA-compliant restrooms. As part of this phase’s contribution Frontier Credit Union secured naming rights for fifty years.
Mayor Lisa Burtenshaw said: “This is exactly the kind of project our community does best. We all enjoy the shade of trees we did not plant, and the Frontier Center for the Performing Arts is one more gift we’ll enjoy for generations because people in Idaho Falls stepped forward to make it happen.”
Dan Thurman President & CEO of Frontier Credit Union said: “We are proud to support a project that expands access to the arts strengthens community connections and helps ensure this landmark venue continues serving Idaho Falls for decades to come…Our Phase II investment was about helping bring this vision fully to life.”
Mary Lynn Hartwell president of Civic Foundation Board recognized Carrie Scheid’s leadership: “Carrie is no longer with us but she was driving force behind this project…Her legacy lives on in this building…”
The city also thanked donors including CHC Foundation Bill & Shirley Maeck Family Foundation AKM Architects Studioi LLC Construction Solutions Company board members Mary Lynn Hartwell Arthur Kull Anne Voillequé Judy Brower Executive Director Lara Herway.
Completion represents an investment ensuring continued use by audiences performers events into future generations.
