Rosewood Renovation and Reinvention

News

Updated 12/29/2023

Major construction of Rosewood Arts Center is now complete!  Minor renovation projects continue through the next few months in our new studios, but will not impact the start of a full season of classes starting in January 2024.

Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us on December 2, 2023 at our Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Holiday Arts Festival! We welcomed over a thousand people to enjoy the new spaces, listen to music by the Kettering Civic Band and Kettering Children's Choir, and meet many of our illustrious instructors and artists!

 

Rosewood Dance Studio
The new dance studio, featuring 600 square foot of sprung beech wood flooring and 24 feet of mirrors.
Handbuilding Studio
The new handbuilding studio, featuring new equipment and furniture.

Project Overview

Beginning in September 2021, the City of Kettering launched a multi-year, phased renovation to update Rosewood Arts Center. As part of the City of Kettering’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts (PRCA), Rosewood is a community destination dedicated to enriching the quality of life for the residents of Kettering and the greater Dayton area by providing creative experiences through a variety of art forms for people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.

The renovation includes infrastructure improvements (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) and the creation of more efficient and customized learning environments for various artistic disciplines. Rosewood in located within a repurposed 1965 elementary school designed by Kettering architect Eugene Betz. Leased to the City from the Kettering City Schools, Rosewood Arts Center opened for a full year of programming in 1985.  Since then, Rosewood has provided exceptional arts programming including hundreds of educational programs and classes each year, as well as artist studio spaces, exhibitions, performances and special events.

The renovation will continue through 2023, and the building will remain open and continue to offer art education classes and gallery programming.  Through community and stakeholder feedback and surveys conducted over the past several years, the renovation will include not only upgrades to the building’s infrastructure but also to expanding educational space for core program areas including youth arts instruction, ceramics, painting and drawing, and specialized spaces for glass and metal working.

Rosewood Arts Center Renovation Sketches

Rosewood Arts Center Renovation Sketch Renderings

The Rosewood project is being managed by the City of Kettering's Public Service Department, working with LWC Incorporated (previously Lorenz Williams) as the project architect and Brumbaugh Construction, Inc.

Funding for this project is provided by the City of Kettering and the Cultural Facilities Grant Fund administered by the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, with additional support provided by the Kettering Parks Foundation.

Previous Studies

In 2016 a facilities condition assessment was completed of the existing Rosewood Arts Center Facility to evaluate the existing conditions of the space and determine what infrastructure improvements and costs would be necessary to retain the buildings use as an arts center into the future. This allowed the department to evaluate the costs generated through the Library Arts Center Project (described below) and compare these two potential options.

From 2012-14, The Dayton Metro Library and the City of Kettering studied the feasibility of a cooperative agreement to build, share and manage a new Library / Cultural Arts Center, located at the corner of Wilmington Pike and Stroop Road in Kettering, Ohio. The City of Kettering and the Dayton Metro Library received a $100,000 for a Local Government Innovation Fund grant from the State of Ohio to conduct a feasibility study.

Facilities Condition Assessment Final Report (2016)

Library Arts Center Feasibility Study (2014)

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