Howard County to break ground on $68M arts and culture center in early 2025, including new Toby's Dinner Theatre

Howard County government plans to break ground in early 2025 on a new $68 million arts and culture hub which will include a new home for Toby’s Dinner Theatre, two other theater spaces, an art gallery, dance studio, art classrooms, and housing units.

The New Cultural Center will be constructed on the current site of Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia.

The dinner theater’s operations will not be interrupted during the construction of the new center, Toby’s Dinner Theatre officials said.

“Do not fear, Toby’s will remain operational while the new theatre is built right here, on our existing property,” reads a post on the dinner theater’s Instagram page. “Once our new theatre is complete, the existing theatre will then be demolished, making way for phase 2 of the project that will also include our school, the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts.”

Award-winning theater director, producer, and educator Toby Orenstein established the nonprofit Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts (CCTA) in 1975 at the request of urban planner and developer James Rouse, who spearheaded the creation of Columbia planned community.

A few years later, Orenstein opened her namesake dinner theater in Columbia in 1979 next to the Merriweather Post Pavilion concert venue.

The Columbia dinner theater is known for their performances “in the round,” meaning audience members are seated in tiered levels surrounding a stage area in the center. Patrons are able to dine buffet-style before each show, and actors serve drinks and desserts before shows and during intermission.

“Realizing how essential the arts are to a vibrant and inclusive community, visionary developer James Rouse invited Toby Orenstein to the new city of Columbia, Maryland to represent theatrical arts and she has done so strongly and proudly for over 50 years,” said Mark Minnick, associate producer at Toby’s Dinner Theatre, in a statement. “Finally, after a lot of passionate hard work, Toby’s school, The Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts, will now have a permanent home alongside a brand-new state-of-the-art Toby’s Dinner Theatre located in The New Cultural Center. We are grateful and extremely excited to continue offering the best in education and live performance with the strong support of Howard County.”

The New Cultural Center will include a new, 340-seat dinner theater space. Toby’s Dinner Theatre operation will be transferred to CCTA, which will run the shows and oversee other community programs, according to a news release.

The cultural center will also include a 200-seat Children’s Theatre, programmed by CCTA; a 200-seat Blackbox Theatre programmed by the Howard County Arts Council; a 1,600-square-foot public arts gallery curated by the Howard County Arts Council; an 800-square-foot dance studio programmed by CCTA; and nearly 7,000 square feet of art classroom space programmed by CCTA.

“The Merriweather District is a major arts and cultural hub in Howard County and the region. We look forward to being part of the New Cultural Center and contributing to the vibrancy of Columbia’s art scene,” said Coleen West, executive director of the Howard County Arts Council, in a statement. “Our new gallery and community black box theatre will provide much-needed creative space for artists to present new work and for residents and visitors to readily enjoy and engage in the arts.”

The project will also feature 174 residential units as part of mixed-income housing called Artists Flats.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said Columbia’s pull will be further enhanced by the arts and cultural amenities that the mixed-use project will provide.

“The New Cultural Center will be an exciting epicenter for dynamic visual and performing arts, not only for Downtown Columbia but throughout our county and region,” Ball said in a statement. “Building upon the legacy of Toby’s Dinner Theatre, this new public amenity will bring together arts, culture, education, and recreation opportunities for residents of all incomes and ages. Furthermore, the inclusion of critical workforce housing in this project will add to Downtown Columbia’s appeal as a place where people of all incomes can live, work, play, grow, and thrive.”

The housing portion of the project will be developed by the Howard County Housing Commission.

“We are extremely excited and pleased to begin construction on the first mixed-income residential development in Downtown Columbia, offering homes for people with a wide range of incomes, including educators, health care workers, and other valued members of the community,” said Peter Engel, executive director of the Howard County Housing Commission, in a statement. “Artists Flats will help to ensure that Downtown Columbia has a balanced mix of housing opportunities to truly serve Howard County. This will be a truly unique building in an amazing location.”

The Columbia Downtown Housing Corporation will invest $3.5 million to help fund 87 units of affordable housing in the Artists Flats, said Mary Ka Kanahan, the corporation’s president.

Completion of the new dinner theater is slated for spring 2026. All other buildings are expected to be completed by spring 2028.