The Samuel H. Scripps Theater Center has made its debut this spring on a newly rewilded 98-acre campus in Garrison, giving Hudson Valley Shakespeare a permanent, timber-framed home after nearly four decades of pitching summer tents. The gently curved mass timber shell frames the Hudson Highlands and keeps performances rooted in the surrounding landscape, and the company says the building is the first public, purpose-built LEED Platinum theater in the United States. The venue is designed to feel open to the sky yet sheltered enough to stretch the performance season well beyond the old fair-weather window.
Construction hit substantial completion in early April, and the campus hosted a May 17 community day before rolling into a summer lineup that features As You Like It, King Lear and a licensed staging of Les Misérables. According to Hudson Valley Shakespeare, the project includes a new traffic signal at Route 9 and Snake Hill Road, with on-site artist lodging scheduled for completion in summer 2027. The company says the center folds in rehearsal studios, education spaces and a restaurant with broad Hudson River views.
Inside the timber shell
Studio Gang designed a gently arcing timber-framed grid shell that rises out of the hillside and deliberately captures sightlines to Storm King Mountain, Breakneck Ridge and the Hudson River. The 451-seat house and neighboring pavilions use low-carbon mass timber, rooftop solar and passive ventilation as part of a sustainability strategy that targets LEED v4 Platinum certification, as detailed by Studio Gang. The proscenium is aligned so actors can enter and exit directly into the landscape, maintaining the company’s long-running tradition of immersive, open-air performances.
From golf course to rewilded campus
The theater is the centerpiece of a larger makeover that transformed a former golf course into native meadows, wetlands and walking trails intended to support biodiversity and cut water use. Coverage in ArchDaily highlights landscape work by Nelson Byrd Woltz that braids picnic lawns, scenic overlooks and a path network throughout the site. The goal is to turn the grounds into a year-round cultural campus instead of a brief seasonal backdrop.
What’s on this summer
The first full season in the new house pairs two Shakespeare classics with a big-ticket musical: Hudson Valley Shakespeare is staging As You Like It and King Lear alongside a new production of Les Misérables. Season previews have underscored how the purpose-built theater lets the company broaden its programming and technical scope, as reported by Time Out.
How to visit
Hudson Valley Shakespeare lists its address as 2015 Route 9, Garrison, NY 10524, and notes that the nearest train stop is the Garrison Metro-North station, which offers a free weekend shuttle to the campus, according to the company’s visitor information. Drivers will find a large parking lot with electric-vehicle charging and a new traffic signal at the entrance to help ease arrivals and departures, per Hudson Valley Shakespeare. Guests are encouraged to come early, spread out on the picnic lawns and check out on-site dining for a full Hudson Highlands evening.
