Playhouse in the Park added a new mainstage theatre complex to its Eden Park location. The new addition, The Rouse Theatre, replaced The Marx Theatre. The project reimagined the entrance where patrons experience a large two-story lobby surrounded by glass curtainwall overlooking the city. The main theatre now has 539 seats with two levels of balconies + side parterres. Backstage, performers + supporting professionals have access to updated dressing rooms, green rooms, rehearsal rooms + costume shop.

The new complex is predominantly a steel structure supported on concrete basement retaining walls of varying tiers as the building cuts into the side of the hilly terrain of Mt. Adams. The structure provides a full fly grid + galleries, a forestage grid, a two-story removable theater trap, and several long-span steel trusses. The site atop Mt. Adams posed many construction + design challenges, including access for construction equipment + material laydown.

Keeping the Marx Theatre operational throughout the construction of the new complex led the team to a two-phased effort. First, the team excavated the hillside + substantially completed the new theater. Second, the Marx Theatre was demolished, making room for the new lobby, box office, and grand arrival.

Schaefer was also a part of the team that renovated the historic Rosenthal Shelterhouse Theatre with new seating + improved accessibility. Before work could begin, Schaefer performed a structural assessment and provided remediation recommendations.