Muny visitors who park in the Forest Park theater’s accessible lots should have a smoother trip from their vehicles to the inside of the venue starting in 2027, thanks to a $3 million gift from the arts-focused William R. Orthwein Jr. and Laura Rand Orthwein Foundation.
A construction project set for after the 2026 season will include a new pedestrian walkway and a designated drop-off/meet-up spot for patrons who receive wheelchair assistance within the venue from staff members.
The project includes landscaping and improved drainage along a park waterway that passes by the Muny’s east entrance. In 2022, the waterway flooded portions of the grounds, including the orchestra pit and backstage area.
“It's certainly usable right now,” Muny President and CEO Kwofe Coleman said of the theater’s east entrance, “but it's not up to the standard of what we want a public-facing area to be. This is a chance to clean that up and make sure that when you’re walking in you’re not looking at what feels like a little bit of a swamp.”
St. Louis-based SWT Design is the lead project designer. Muny leaders said the project should be completed before the 2027 summer season.
“There's this long drive that terminates, and it’s just the side of the building, but there’s nothing telling you you’re at the Muny. So it will be an opportunity to just have a nice drop-off area and then a well-lit pathway to come in,” added Coleman.
The Muny’s lease with the city, which is up in 2071, gives the organization access to its prominent Forest Park location for $1 a year but requires the organization to perform regular upkeep on the grounds. The enhanced entrance from the accessible lots will be just the latest update to the Muny’s infrastructure, after the theater launched a $100 million fundraising campaign in 2018 that paid for a new stage, enhanced backstage facilities and other improvements.
A refurbished entrance at the theater’s upper lots is due to open with the 2025 season.
