The groundbreaking of the new Triumvirate Theatre played host to a large number of attendees, including representatives from every level of Kenai Peninsula and Alaskan politics. As theatre president, Joe Rizzo prepared to shovel the first scoop of earth on Saturday, several of the dignitaries present took the opportunity to voice their support of Triumvirate, the community support of its rebuild, and the value of the arts in a community.
“It’s opportunities like this that allow people to work together through hard times, times that allow them to celebrate, to watch their kids blossom into these extraordinary human beings with these gifts that as parents, we might not have even recognized ourselves,” said U.S. Senator, Lisa Murkowski. “These are parts of communities that make us whole.”
Senator Murkowski, attending a peninsula event for the second time this month, shared some of the questions one in her position must ask on the subject of federal financial support for projects such as the Triumvirate rebuild. “Triumvirate is really one of those projects that is generated from the community up – from the ground up. So, when I when I look at projects that might qualify for federal dollars, you look for certain key factors. Is it supported by the community? Has your council, have your representatives, have your local and state leaders come together to say this is important?”
Later, Murkowski shared how the theater has been an affirmative answer to those questions. “The arts allow us to be part of a broader community, and so this is something that is not only broadly supported by the community, it makes the Kenai Peninsula area, and really our state better. So, I looked at the opportunity or the role that I could play here as one partner in a bigger piece. The support that we’ve seen from private individuals, from the community itself, from corporations, from Rasmussen Foundation, from state and federal partners it demonstrates the strength and breadth of support for the Triumvirate Theater.”
Alaska State House Representative, Justin Ruffridge, shared his personal connection to the institution. “I’ve been very blessed in my life to get to know many of you in this crowd as a result of theater. And it’s amazing how much it brings a community together when you can have people from all different walks of life, very different political beliefs, religious beliefs, ways of looking at the world some of them might be quite different than you, and you come together for one thing, and that is to produce a show.”
Borough Mayor Peter Micciche spoke on Rizzo’s value to the community, and by extension, the good he and the theatre have done for the Kenai. “What I picture is Joe sitting down, lifting a kid’s face up, and explaining to them why they’re amazing, why they can do it. I’ve seen him taking hundreds of kids out of their shells, and giving them the confidence to be who they’re going to be. That’s what Triumvirate means to me.”
The Triumvirate Theatre burned down in February of 2021. Since then, its rebuild has secured more than $3 million in federal, state, and local funding support.
