![](https://weinbergcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/calendar-outline.svg")
![](https://weinbergcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/gift-outline.svg")
![](https://weinbergcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/cart-outline.svg")
NEW SPIRE ARTS
New Spire Arts features a flexible black box theater that seats up to 275 people and a gorgeously renovated lobby that doubles as a community gathering space.
This inviting space offers a wide variety of performances, from local theater and dance companies to international musicians and nationally known comedians. At New Spire Arts, you can enjoy a performance up close and personal, making you feel truly immersed in the experience. The closeness of the stage allows for a unique connection between the performers and the audience, ensuring that each show is a memorable event. All ticketed performances held at New Spire Arts are general admission; seating is on a first-come-first-served basis.
Upcoming performances at
New Spire Arts
Tuesday October 15, 2024
2:30 PM
Saturday October 19, 2024
8:00 PM
OUR HISTORY
McCrory’s 5 & 10 Cent Store
15 West Patrick Street spent almost seventy years as McCrory’s 5 & 10¢ Store. McCrory’s had already occupied the store at 15 North Market Street for close to twenty years when the corporation built their new store on “the old Rohrback property” in 1928. By 1929, McCrory’s had connected 15 North Market with 15 West Patrick, creating the L-shaped building that stands today.
In the 1950s, McCrory’s added its luncheonette counter, located in what was the stockroom and would eventually become the theatre. The corporation reached its peak in the 1960s with 1300 stores nationwide. In 1992, the chain filed bankruptcy, and the Frederick location closed in 1996.
Frederick Cultural Arts Center
In 1998 the property became the Cultural Arts Center of Frederick County and was owned and managed by the Frederick Arts Council until 2013. The Cultural Arts Center was a community venue for actors, dancers, musicians, and artists of every discipline where they could work, rehearse, perform, or teach.
Plays, music concerts, and dance performances were held in the 106-seat black box theater. Rehearsals, lectures, special events, and other activities took place throughout the week in the event hall, and the gallery hosted monthly rotating art exhibits.
The facility was one of the busiest arts spaces in Frederick County, with over thirty different groups regularly utilizing the center every year, including Equinox Dance Company and Maryland Ensemble Theatre.
New Spire Arts
New Spire Arts Inc. was founded in 2016 with a catalyzing grant from the Ausherman Family Foundation.
In 2017, New Spire Arts Inc. contracted Ziger/Snead Architects to design a new performing arts center at 15 West Patrick Street in historic downtown Frederick. Construction soon began, breathing new life into an iconic downtown building — and enhancing Frederick’s growing Theatre District culminating in a sellout opening weekend in January 2019!
In August of 2022, operations of New Spire Arts were transferred to the City of Frederick. Now, as part of the Weinberg Center for the Arts, New Spire Arts has been busier than ever!
Plan Your Visit
Located at 15 West Patrick Street, Frederick, MD 21701, directly across from the historic Weinberg Center, New Spire Arts is a unique venue dedicated to cultivating a vibrant arts community. More info to know before you visit is below.
Directions and ParkingRentals and Private Events
New Spire Arts is a flexible and customizable space that is great for live performances, private parties, weddings, meetings, and other special events. Featuring a transformable black box space and a beautiful lobby, New Spire Arts may be the perfect place to hold your next event!
For information about renting New Spire Arts click below to learn more or contact the Manager of Operations and Production, Laura Hawk at [email protected].
Learn More
Gallery
Support the Weinberg
The Weinberg Center is an institution of value to Frederick. It is a vital part of the economic life of Downtown Frederick, attracting more than 85,000 patrons annually who visit shops, restaurants, and local stores. Furthermore, the Weinberg provides educational programs to over 8,000 Frederick county school children each year. And the Weinberg continues to bring world-class performing artists to the heart of downtown Frederick for our community to enjoy. We are committed to keeping ticket prices affordable for our community. So to cover the costs of the arts we present, the Weinberg — like theaters nationally — must find other sources of support. Please consider making a contribution to this historic theater.
