Tempe children’s theatre begins recovery after microburst damage

Childsplay, the long-standing children’s theater in Tempe, has halted operations after a destructive microburst severely damaged its facility.

The organization, which has served Arizona students since 1977, is now assessing the extent of the damage while already facing financial strain following the loss of federal arts funding.

Managing Director Steve Martin joins “Arizona Horizon” to share where recovery efforts stand and what the future may hold.

“We lost electricity, we lost all of the power to our communications,” Martin said, “…once we got that all back up again, and running it was fine. It was really just a portion, wing of our campus that got damaged.”

Childsplay stages educational performances statewide and runs theatre camps, reaching an estimated one in five Arizona schoolchildren. They produce and perform about 5-6 shows a year at the Herberger Theater, but also do more than one hundred performances a year at schools.

“We also have a huge education program, and included in that is our campus, and our academy program,” Martin explained, “…and those are the programs that had to be suspended and moved because of the storm.”

The microburst that hit Tempe caused widespread damage and destruction to homes and buildings across the city. Additionally, winds downed trees, damaged roofs, and thousands of residents experienced power outages.

For Childsplay, they experienced widespread power outages and lost communication which ultimately impacted their campus and academy program that covers their large education performance program.

The first round of storms that hit the Valley caused roof damage for the campus, according to Martin. He says that when the microburst hit, roofers were in the process of repairing the first storms damage. The second storm “ripped” off the rest of the roof which caused for rain to pour into their classrooms.

“…the Tempe elementary school district has been very generous, and has allowed us to rent classroom space from them,” Martin said.