Horizon West Theater Co. finds forever home

After meeting in preschool classrooms, hotel ballrooms, daycares and more, Horizon West Theater Co. finally has found its forever home, providing stability to the company and its members. 

The nonprofit is renovating a one-story, 2,400-square-foot building located at 1220 Winter Garden-Vineland Road to call home after reaching the $150,000 fundraising goal through its Act 2 fundraiser. 

“It’s going to give (members of Horizon West Theater Co.) a physical home base to come to, where we can have our stuff here,” said Ryan Jalernpan, the marketing chair for Horizon West Theater Co. “What’s challenging about renting other spaces is that we couldn’t leave anything there and it just wasn’t ours. This space is going to give them a home base to just come hang out. That’s our hope, a place for the community — even if they’re not doing anything— to just come and hang out.”

Acquiring the new facility comes two years after the nonprofit’s board of directors decided to start the search, recognizing the need for a permanent facility. 

“We just found out it was getting nearly impossible to do all the programs that we wanted and what was requested by the community without having a space, just because we had to rent hotels, schools, all that stuff,” Jalernpan said. 

The new facility, which is estimated to open in the summertime, consists of two studio spaces: one serving as a performance space and the other as a workshop, classes and camps studio. 

“The whole building is going to be as flexible as we can make it to be able to do all kinds of programming throughout, so nothing is super permanently there,” Jalernpan said. “We’re going to be able to modify it as we need to throughout the year. … It’s going to be designed to be organic and flexible.” 

Jalernpan said operating costs and utilities will be about $55,000 per year, and although that’s a significant amount, the company is certain it’ll be worth it. 

With the new space, the nonprofit hopes to offer more classes and workshops as well as host more performances. 

“We want to offer acting classes, improv classes, musical theory classes, all kinds of dances, just all the things that the community has been asking for,” he said. “We are so excited to be able to offer that now.”

Meanwhile, company members are working diligently to get renovations completed to welcome the community.  

“We want to paint it and kind of brand it to make it custom fit us,” he said. “There’s a lot of cosmetic stuff we’re working on.” 

Horizon West Theater Co. also is adding a second bathroom to the facility and redoing the flooring of the studios. There also are plans to build a stage soon. 

“It’s not going to be your traditional theater,” he said. “It’s more about creating a theater home that has all kinds of offerings, and the shows are just going to be super different versus your typical sitting-audience just watching the stage.” 

Currently, the company is looking for help to complete the flooring and bathroom projects. 

Jalernpan said material donations are greatly appreciated, as well as any other form of support the community is willing to give. 

“I’m looking forward to having a space where everyone is welcome,” Jalernpan said. “That sounds silly, but we have such a strong community here and such a big art scene that we want anyone interested in the arts —whether they’re super new or have experience — to come through our doorways and just have a safe space to explore all of the arts.”