Wildhorse Arts Plans Three-Year Steamboat Performing Arts Center Expansion

Steamboat Springs —The lights dim, the projector hums to life, and for a fleeting moment, the familiar flicker of film reels gives way to something else entirely — a vision of wings, fly space, and a backstage that has eluded Steamboat Springs for decades.

Dagny McKinley, executive director of Wildhorse Arts & Cinema, put it plainly in a recent interview with the Steamboat Pilot: “In 2019, working with Steamboat Creates, we realized the town was without a performance space that includes wings, fly space and a backstage.” She noted that while the dream for a proper performing arts center dates back roughly 30 years according to community lore, it has somehow remained unrealized until now.

If you’ve walked through the Wildhorse Marketplace recently, you might have noticed the change. In 2025, Wildhorse Arts & Cinema took over operations at the 20-year-old, six-screen multiplex, reimagining it not just as a place for first-run movies, but as a hub for live theater, musical performances, and art displays. The shift is tangible; in the past 365 days alone, the venue has booked 246 uses of the space outside of regular film screenings. It’s a density of activity that suggests the community is hungry for this kind of creative infrastructure.

But the current setup is just the prologue. McKinley has begun outlining a more ambitious renovation that would add several floors to the existing structure. The plans include a dedicated performing arts stage, specialized rehearsal spaces with appropriate flooring, office space for local nonprofits, and even living quarters for visiting artists. A needs-assessment survey conducted by the group highlighted that the primary barriers facing local arts organizations were the lack of performance and rehearsal space, along with issues of cost and accessibility — factors directly addressed by this expansion.

There’s a warmth to the optimism here, though it’s tempered with realism. “People say it’s a 5- to 10-year project. I say three years, but I’m an idealist,” McKinley admitted. She emphasized that the movie theater and multi-use space would remain open and operational during construction, ensuring the community doesn’t lose access to these services while the building evolves.

At this stage, formal fundraising hasn’t started. The group is currently inviting feedback on the concept and securing partnerships, treating the community as co-creators in this process. The promotional clips running before every feature presentation serve as a visual roadmap, a constant reminder of what’s possible when a town decides to invest in its creative soul.

As you leave the theater, the air outside feels cooler, the sounds of the valley replacing the internal hum of the projector. The building stands there, solid and familiar, but if you look closely, you can almost see the ghost of the future structure rising behind the current walls, a silent promise that the stage is finally being set.