A community landmark in downtown New Port Richey is heading into its second century with a new roof over its head and the sun helping to power the show.
A century-old theatre, powered for the next 100 years
The Richey Suncoast Theatre has been a cornerstone of downtown New Port Richey for nearly a century. Over the past several months we were proud to install rooftop solar on this landmark, working alongside our friends at S.C. Signature Construction & Roofing, who gave the century-old building the new roof it deserves.
With a fresh roof in place, we installed 35 kW of rooftop solar, enough to provide roughly 80% of the theatre's energy needs. For a nonprofit community theatre, cutting the power bill by that much frees up real money that can go back into productions, staff, and the building itself.
A true community effort
Projects like this only happen when a community pulls together, and this one is a great example. A grant through the City of New Port Richey and the New Port Richey Community Redevelopment Agency is covering half the cost of the work. The Gilliss Family Foundation, the contractors, and several private donors came together to make up the rest, with additional support from federal clean-energy incentives. Construction financing was provided by the Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF).
It takes a lot of hands to turn an idea like this into a finished roof and a working solar array, and we are grateful to have been one of them.
Celebrating 100 years
The theatre celebrates its 100-year anniversary in just a few weeks, and improvements like these help make sure the next 100 years shine just as bright. The team is throwing a celebration on May 8th at Spartan Manor. You can find more information and purchase tickets at richeysuncoasttheatre.com.
This one is a little personal for us, too. Our owner, William May, has spent the last three years serving on the theatre's board as treasurer, helping guide a remarkable turnaround. In that time the theatre grew from around $160,000 in annual revenue to nearly $1.4 million, reinvested more than $600,000 into major projects, added its first full-time staff, and went from fewer than 4,000 tickets a year to more than 30,000. A new roof and rooftop solar are a fitting capstone to that kind of momentum.
Solar that gives back
We build solar for homeowners across Tampa Bay every week, but a project like the Richey Suncoast Theatre is a reminder of what this work is really about: keeping the lights on, the bills down, and the doors open for the places that make a community feel like home.
If your business, nonprofit, or place of worship is thinking about lowering its energy costs with solar, we would love to help. Reach out for a free consultation and we will walk you through what would make sense for your building.
