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Years of work on the lower level of the 8 Exchange St. building are just about wrapped, staff told мÓƶà¶à¿ª½±¼Ç¼ on Dec. 12. The first events are expected to take place there as soon as this spring.

The level is anchored by the 3,800-square-foot Owasco Room, which the theater will make available for a variety of events. It can fit 700 people for a concert, 500 for a lecture or 235 for a wedding.

With elegant chandeliers and hourglass sconces, the room seems especially suited to weddings. The theater's artistic producing director, Angela Daddabbo, said bridal parties will be able to rent the whole theater building for the weekend — coming on Friday evening to set up, having the ceremony and reception on Saturday, and returning on Sunday morning to collect their belongings. 

The building gives bridal parties a suite of options, Daddabbo continued. Ceremonies could be held in front of the 200 angled seats of the Main Stage, cocktail hours could take place among the tables and chairs of Stage Right, photos could be taken among the sites of historic downtown, and dance floors could be located in another newly renovated part of the lower level: a black box theater.

"Theoretically, people can come and be here all day," Daddabbo said.

The black box and Owasco Room will be available for rental soon, she said, though events with alcohol will have to wait until the theater receives its liquor license for the lower level from the state. 

Ten Saturdays next year have been blocked off for weddings, Daddabbo continued. Along with those, the theater is working with Ithaca-based promoter Dan Smalls Presents to book concerts in the Owasco Room. The massive space will allow the theater to host a higher tier of performers than it could at Main Stage or Stage Right, she said, and an adjacent space would serve as their green room.

Other plans for the Owasco Room include ballroom dancing lessons and DJ concerts for high school students, both of which would return to the theater after an absence of several years.

Whether it's those, weddings, concerts or any other large gathering, the theater looks forward to the rental income and other revenue they could generate. The nonprofit can only make up to 25% of its budget from programming not related to its artistic and cultural mission, Daddabbo said, such as weddings. But the sky is the limit for programming that is related, such as concerts, lectures and more.

"This is how we plan to make the bulk of the financial piece of this puzzle," she said. "We knew from the jump that this would be that missing piece of our revenue stream." 

The lower level also includes a long hallway that will become an Auburn music hall of fame, the home of public access TV station Auburn Regional Media Access, and a catering kitchen. The latter will be available for weddings, though Daddabbo hopes the theater's Cafe 108 upstairs can compete for catering opportunities. The theater will make it available as a teaching kitchen for local students as well.

The cafe, lower level and other parts of the former Grant's Department Store cost a total of $2.9 million to renovate, Director of Finance & Grants Carey Eidel said. The work began nine years ago, and included securing $700,000 from Auburn's $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant. Another major boost came from state Sen. Rachel May, who helped arrange a $750,000 CREST grant.

Every bit as important, Daddabbo said, were donors, Cafe 108 customers, the Emerson and other local foundations, and more sources of community support for the past 20 years.

"After 19 years, this is no longer a flash in the pan. This is something that the entire community literally has invested in," she said. "There's ownership, there's a sense of participation and belonging."

Eidel added, "We've devoted a good part of our lives to renovating this building and creating through Angela's vision a public institution that we hope can last for generations."