Cary Elementary School stood at the end of Cary's main street for decades creating an important vista in their downtown. Functionally obsolete, the school was abandoned and the community faced the loss of this important historic structure. With over 40,000 SF of classrooms and an auditorium, it had the potential of housing the growing community's cultural arts needs.

Through a series of public workshops, Clearscapes developed a program for the visual and performing arts. Working with a public art team, and Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources staff, the facility was designed to accommodate the community’s fast growing arts programming needs.

The three-story building provides classrooms, studios, offices, meeting rooms, rehearsal spaces, a 400-seat theatre, and office spaces serving visual and performing arts. The existing auditorium was gutted and converted into a new 400 seat theatre and an addition to the existing building provided for badly needed rehearsal space and back-of-house space for the new theatre which includes an enlarged stage and new fly loft. The existing narrow entry hall was redesigned as a new two-story lobby and includes several glass artworks which were incorporated into the walls, doors, and stairway of the new lobby.