IMEG provided engineering design and services for the renovation of the historic 1910 Shubert Theater, part of The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts in Minneapolis.

The Beaux-Arts theater building was originally constructed for the Shubert Theatrical Company of New York to host numerous entertainment venues until it closed in 1982. When redevelopment threatened demolition in 1998, Artspace Projects purchased the building and moved it two blocks to its current location next to the Hennepin Center for the Arts (also owned by Artspace) with the goal of connecting the two historic buildings.

The firm’s engineers originally designed the renovation of The Hennepin Center for the Arts in the early 1980s. That renovation included offices, rehearsal and performance space for dance companies, dance schools, and other arts organizations. The most recent renovation of Shubert was completed in 2011 and connected the two buildings. Engineers provided MEP and fire protection design for the renovation, which included:

• Goodale Theater (formerly Shubert): a 39-foot-deep by 38-foot-wide performance stage with seating for more than 500 patrons and an orchestra pit that can be raised for additional seating
• Atrium Link: two stories, lobby and box office area, offices, an education center, rehearsal space, and concessions

The MEP design for the renovation included a heat pump system with fluid cooler on the link roof, replacement of the existing fluid coolers for the Hennepin Center, an emergency smoke exhaust system for the stage house, low-flow plumbing fixtures, air-to-air heat recovery for ventilation of the new addition, power distribution, and fire alarm systems.

The project received a 2012 AIA MN Merit Award and was named on the Finance & Commerce Top Projects List in 2011.