Ridgefield Playhouse signs 20-year lease, will expand space

The Ridgefield Playhouse has reached an agreement with the town for a 20-year lease and additional space in the town-owned Venus Building.

The theater’s rental of parts of the second floor of the Venus Building, previously occupied by the Board of Education”™s administrative offices, is projected to bring the town, acting as landlord, annual sums of $68,000 in rent and $35,000 in utility fees for the 4,865-square-foot space.

The Playhouse will continue to pay $1 a year for the auditorium where shows are staged, together with a backstage space and a planned concession area on the first floor.

The school board offices are expected to move to the first floor of the south wing of the Venus Building, while Chef”™s Warehouse continues to rent the remainder of the second floor. Chef”™s Warehouse will also renovate its floor on the south wing, while the town will renovate the first floor; that work is expected to take about a year.