Downtown will star in new Citadel partnership

The only downside we can see to the new partnership between the Enter Stage Right theater troupe and the Witt family is that we’re going to miss falling off the stilts at Will on the Water. Enter Stage Right is a local amateur acting group who has presented the annual summer Shakespeare festival at various open-air venues over the years, from Keifer Park in Port Huron to Palmer Park in St. Clair, with various other stops in between.

The Witt family is the undeniable master of downtown Port Huron loft development and redevelopment. Their many successes have changed the look and feel of downtown Port Huron, from the obvious — the big, blue building at West Quay Street and Huron Avenue — to the more ephemeral — they’ve put life into downtown as much as our destination downtown eateries and taverns.

Now the Witts are bringing new life to the Citadel building on Huron Avenue. They expect to spend more than $1 million to develop high-end lofts on the upper floors to mirror their residential spaces in the Ben’s Fine Furniture store. At street level, they expect to create retail space in the front of the building. In the back, they and Enter Stage Right will be turning what was the worship space for the Salvation Army into a space for live theater.

The Witts’ continued investment in downtown Port Huron shows remarkable confidence in the city center’s future as well as helping to guarantee it.

The Salvation Army built the landmark structure in 1903 and later moved to its present citadel at 22nd and Court streets.

Together, Enter Stage Right and the Witt’s new stage are going to give Marine City’s lively theater a little competition. The successful Snug and Riverbank theaters have established that there is a market for regular live theater in the Blue Water Area and the Enter Stage Right collaboration will add to that, giving theater-goers another reason for a night on the town. Dinner in downtown Port Huron, live theater at the Citadel, afterglow drinks a block or two away — we can’t wait, even if St. Clair River freighters are not passing upstage of Cassius and Brutus.

As they say in the theater, break a leg.