ASU Gammage completes fundraising for Elevate & Alleviate Campaign

Artist rendering of bathroom and elevator addition

from our friends at ASU Gammage:

ASU Gammage, its donors and the community helped raise more than $9 million during the Elevate & Alleviate Campaign. It’s part of the venue’s 50th Anniversary Golden Gammage Initiative to provide much needed improvements that included additional restroom facilities and two elevators allowing access to all levels.

The campaign began in March of 2015 with a $3 million lead gift from The Kemper & Ethel Marley Foundation and capped off in December (2016) by an additional personal gift from ASU Gammage 50th Anniversary Board members and local philanthropists Laurie and Chuck Goldstein. Laurie is also an ASU trustee.

The fundraising was led by gifts from The Kemper & Ethel Marley Foundation and a public matching gift from Arizona State University. Other major gift donors include Susan and William Ahearn, Pat Langlin-Brazil and George Brazil Plumbing & Electrical, Laurie and Chuck Goldstein and the Margaret T. Morris Foundation. More than 1,500 donors came together to make the project a reality. ASU Gammage was also able to make significant capital investments in the project as a result of the last two successful seasons.

artist rendering of bathroom interior

ASU Gammage operates under a self-sustaining business model driven by private support and ticket sales while still maintaining the heart of a non-profit.

“We are grateful to all of the supporters who have shared our vision on this project,” says Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, executive director for ASU Gammage and associate vice president cultural affairs for ASU. “Based on the extraordinary support and ticket sales the last few years, we’re able to turn this into a reality.”

What started as an idea to create a distinct university auditorium, by ASU President Grady Gammage in 1957, is now a world-class presenting organization and a vital cultural and economic engine for the State. Since 2006, ASU Gammage has created more than $500 million of economic impact for Arizona with its Broadway series and granted access to nearly 5 million people to world-class arts experiences.

The 50th Anniversary Leadership Board includes co-chairs Leslie and Jeff Rich, co-chair Mary Way, William Ahearn, Felice Appell, JO Finks, Grady Gammage Jr., Laurie and Chuck Goldstein, Pat Langlin-Brazil, Albert Leffler, Michael Manning, Sarah Nolan, Bill Way and the late Jerry Appell.

Construction on the new restrooms and elevators began over the summer and is set to be completed in March 2017.