825 Arts (Victoria Theater Renovation) — 825 Arts
825 Arts, a community arts center in the adaptively reused 1915 Victoria Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota's Frogtown-Rondo neighborhood, opened in 2024, designed by VJAA with theater planning and lighting design by Schuler Shook.
| Venue | 825 Arts |
|---|---|
| Project type | Major Renovation |
| Status | Completed |
| Year completed | 2024 |
Credits
| Firm | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|
| vjaa | Architecture | |
| Schuler Shook | Lighting Design | theater consultant and lighting design for the flexible 120-seat black box theater, lobby, meeting spaces, and exterior facade |
Description
The $6.5 million renovation converted the long-vacant, Beaux-Arts-style Victoria Theater (built 1915) into a flexible community arts hub with a reconfigurable 120-seat black box theater, a second-level mezzanine, street-facing community gathering space, and teaching spaces for music, dance, spoken word, theater, film, and visual art. The project followed an earlier community design process led by Miller Dunwiddie Architects (2015) before VJAA developed the architectural plans (from 2019); general contractor was Flannery Construction. Acoustical consulting was by Kirkegaard. The organization, previously known as Victoria Theater Arts Center (VTAC), renamed itself 825 Arts upon the building's 2024 opening. The project won a 2025 AIA Minnesota Honor Award and was a Finalist in the 2025 Architizer A+Awards (Concepts, Architecture + Adaptive Reuse).