Clear Space Theater Company Accepts Letter of Intent from the City of Rehoboth Beach to begin a Public Private Partnership
October 24, 2025
Project will ultimately redevelop city owned land at 11 Christian Street to become a new performing arts center for Sussex County
After extensive negotiations and multiple public meetings, Clear Space Theatre Company (CSTC) and the City of Rehoboth Beach have agreed to move forward to develop a comprehensive public-private partnership agreement, based on the terms provided in a letter of intent from the City of Rehoboth Beach. The CSTC Board of Directors formally accepted the letter of intent from the City at a special meeting on October 23, 2025. In accepting the letter of intent, CSTC concludes its
18-month process for site selection for its new performing arts center and commits to remaining in Rehoboth Beach, where it has been based since 2010.
Based on the terms of the letter of intent, Clear Space will enter into a land lease of 11 Christian Street after the Cape Henlopen Senior Center (CHSC) relocates to its next home outside the city limits on Hebron Road. CHSC has been a tenant on city land for 45 years, but was gifted land to expand its operations and will be moving after the completion of a
capital campaign. At that time, CSTC will begin a lease of up to 50 years. The land, which has been valued at $7.2M, will be made available to CSTC for $1 per year. CSTC is committed to building Sussex County’s first purpose-built performing arts center on the site, which will include a proscenium mainstage, a flexible seating black box, a rehearsal studio, expanded lobby, concessions, and backstage facilities, and gallery space. Parking will be provided on the site as well to help address the City’s growing need for expanded parking facilities during the City’s busy summer season; the details of which will be worked through during the planning process.
“On behalf of the Board of Commissioners, I am thrilled that Clear Space has selected our offer and plans on staying in the City of Rehoboth Beach,” says Mayor Stan Mills. “Clear Space has always enriched Rehoboth Beach culturally, socially, creatively, and economically. It is a top-notch performing arts center that is near and dear to our residents, visitors, and business owners. We believe it’s a win-win, and we look forward to many more years of our partnership with Clear Space.”
CSTC Board Chair Megan Nehrbas shared, “Accepting this LOI is the first step in our commitment to work with the City of Rehoboth Beach as partners in creating an amenity for our region that serves not only residents and visitors here in town, but also audiences and families all across our region. While our physical building will remain in Rehoboth Beach, we still intend to partner with key institutions in communities across coastal Delaware to expand the reach of our Arts Institute and of our mainstage programming through satellite classroom and performance opportunities in the years to come. I am grateful to city leadership and to the chair of the CSTC Building Committee Joe Sterner, our board treasurer Al Willis, and Managing Director Joe Gfaller for navigating the process that led us to this wonderful outcome.”
“We are ecstatic about Clear Space’s decision to remain here in the City of Rehoboth Beach,” adds City Manager Taylour Tedder. “Not only does Clear Space mean so much to our community from a cultural perspective, but it also plays a key role in economic development. Rehoboth Beach is a thriving year-round beach destination, and Clear Space is a key part of that. We are confident the new site on Christian Street will help revitalize that area of town, provide more parking, and serve as an enticing area for new business opportunities. Clear Space remaining in Rehoboth Beach is the outcome many of us were hoping for, for so many reasons.”
Clear Space Managing Director Joe Gfaller comments, “We are grateful to Mayor Mills for first proposing that Clear Space consider the site at 11 Christian Street back in March 2024. Without his encouragement, the site might not have been explored as one of the nine in our 2024 market study. As our analysis winnowed down our preferred sites, the City of
Rehoboth Beach’s staff and elected officials were consistently excellent partners, negotiating fairly and transparently in the interest of the citizens, business owners, and visitors of Rehoboth Beach. We are grateful to them for helping us make this project possible, on a site that had the strongest favorability from the largest segments of our
donor and subscription bases. We are deeply grateful to our audiences and supporters in Rehoboth Beach who were also instrumental in advocating on our behalf to the City.”
Total project cost for the new performing arts center is approximately $40M. While Clear Space Theatre Company will own and operate the new facility, it is intended to be a state of-the-art hub for arts organizations across the region, bringing theater, music, dance, film, and visual arts under one roof in a convenient location. Clear Space anticipates beginning
a national RFP process for the project’s architect soon, with community forums for residents and audiences to follow later in 2026.
For those seeking to support the Cape Henlopen Senior Center’s efforts to complete its capital campaign, a fundraising event for CHSC will be held at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center on Thursday, November 20, 2025. More information on the event can be found at www.capehenlopenseniorcenter.org/cabaret-fundraiser.
About Clear Space Theatre Company
Clear Space Theatre Company is Delaware’s second-largest professional non-profit theater and the state’s most prolific producer of professional theater. A 501(c)(3) cultural organization, CSTC was founded in 2004 and is currently located at 20 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971. Each year, the company produces a robust production season of plays and musicals, including a summer repertory festival, a children’s theater series featuring young artists, and a cabaret series. The company’s Performing Arts Institute has served over 10,000 students over CSTC’s history, currently reaching students of all ages, building self-confidence, inspiring collaborative problem-solving, and awakening creativity. Under the current leadership of Managing Director Joe Gfaller and Interim Creative Director Candice Jewell, Clear Space
Theatre Company is comprised of a remarkable team of full-time, part-time, and volunteer administrators, artists, and educators.
