DC Theater Receives $35-Million Gift
December 7, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Arena Stage, a Washington theater group, has been given a $35-million gift, believed to be the largest ever for an American regional theater, reports The Washington Post.
Gilbert and Jaylee Mead, both retired NASA scientists, gave the gift on the condition that the theater’s board would match it within a year, and that the match would have no more than 20 donors, with each donor contributing at least $500,000.
Arena Stage is conducting a $120-million capital campaign. The Meads’ gift has pushed its total to $100-million, and will support a new building complex to be named Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The complex will be completed in 2009.
Mr. Mead was a NASA physicist and is an heir to Consolidated Papers. Mrs. Mead was a NASA mathematician and astronomer.
