For more than 50 years, Gorton Center has evolved alongside the community it serves. Our strength has always come from collaboration, generosity and a shared belief in the power of arts, enrichment and connection. That same spirit now guides us forward and forms the foundation of our next capital campaign – ensuring Gorton remains a vital, welcoming place where community comes to life.

That vision now has a price tag and a plan.

We’ve embarked on a $7 million capital campaign to modernize our theater technology, create a welcoming multipurpose commons area for community gathering, refresh spaces throughout our historic building and grow our endowment. The need is real. In the 12 years since the Community Spirit Transformed campaign that saved Gorton, the number of classes and events we offer has grown by 500 percent, and annual attendance has surged 1,500 percent – translating to more than 600 programs and 16,000 patrons last year for Gorton programming alone.

Phase I brings updates to the Nagel and Stuart rooms, the catering kitchen and the technology in the John and Nancy Hughes Theater, with construction underway since August 2026. Phase II, slated for 2027, will introduce the new commons, relocate our administrative offices to the second floor and further enhance the theater and Grotto.

Having raised 70 percent of our goal, we invite the community to come together for the final $2 million – an investment in the spaces that bring us together. As our leadership notes, this is an investment not only in a historic building, but in the connection, learning and shared joy that make our community what it is – “for our children, our grandchildren and generations still to come.”

You belong here.