The Embassy Theatre received a gift from Chuck and Lisa Surack and Sweetwater to renovate the historic theater’s backstage dressing rooms. The gift was announced at the opening of Down the Line, an Embassy concert on Feb. 11.

The renovation project will commence later in 2017.

“The Embassy welcomes world-class artists year-round. This generous gift will provide the opportunity to update our original dressing rooms. Once complete, our visiting artists will truly receive the star treatment when visiting the Embassy and Fort Wayne,” said Kelly Updike, executive director of the Embassy Theatre. “The Suracks and Sweetwater truly make Fort Wayne a quality place to live for our families.”

Sweetwater founder and President Chuck Surack remarked, “The Embassy Theatre is a unique and irreplaceable feature of downtown and the cultural life of northeast Indiana. Lisa and I are proud to be able to help restore the dressing rooms to their original glory.”

In 2016, the theater completed a $10 million renovation project that turned four floors of the former Indiana Hotel, which sat vacant for nearly 40 years, into a two-story-high ballroom and breakout rehearsal spaces. The project also added new administrative offices, rooftop patio, classrooms, history center and improved public access and concessions areas.

Since opening in March 2016, the new spaces have served more than 10,000 patrons.