The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati celebrates honors for the historic theater’s transformation with Terrex Development & Construction and GBBN
Marcus Thompson, Brian Schwartz, Jennifer Sebranek, Peter Horton & Chad Burke.
CINCINNATI – The reimagined Emery Theater has earned four recent awards recognizing its historic preservation, renovation, and community impact. The honors celebrate the transformation of the 1911 landmark into a permanent MainStage home for The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati (TCT), completed in collaboration with Terrex Development & Construction and architectural firm GBBN.
The five honors include:
First Place in the Historic Category, retrofit magazine’s 2026 Metamorphosis Awards. The national awards recognize excellence in renovation and retrofitting. The Emery project will be featured in the magazine’s November/December 2026 awards issue.
Melanie Pliskin, Phil Rowland, Steve Karoly, Andrew Campbell, Krista Katona Pille & Brian Schwartz.
2026 Preservation Champion Award, Cincinnati Preservation. The Emery Theater was honored for its lasting contribution to historic preservation in Greater Cincinnati. The award recognizes the project’s restoration of significant architectural features, creative integration of modern theatrical technology, and improved accessibility, along with its renewed role as a cultural anchor and permanent MainStage home for The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati.
2026 Community Impact of the Year Award, CREDA Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky. The Commercial Real Estate Development Association chapter recognized the Emery Theater at its annual Night of the Stars Gala.
2026 Historic Theatre of the Year Award, Heritage Ohio. The statewide preservation organization honored the Emery at its September 30 awards ceremony at Cincinnati’s Woodward Theatre, recognizing historic preservation, active programming, and community engagement.
2026 State Historic Preservation Office Award. The project has been selected for recognition for its achievement in preserving Ohio’s historic places. The award will be presented November 6 at the Thomas C. Moyer Judicial Center in Columbus.
The reopening in October 2025 marked a homecoming more than half a century in the making. The Emery Theater was TCT’s original performance home before the company moved its MainStage productions to the Taft Theatre in 1969. Returning to the stage where generations of young audiences first experienced live theater reconnects TCT with its history while creating a permanent home for the next generation.
Now the most technologically advanced proscenium-style theater in the country, the reimagined Emery blends theatrical innovation with historic grandeur. The restoration retained ornamental plaster, marble finishes, and grand staircases while integrating new building systems and elevators. A stage lift with a built-in turntable, immersive projection mapping, and a large LED wall expands the possibilities for storytelling within the historic venue.
Envisioned by philanthropist Mary Emery and designed by Samuel Hannaford & Sons, the historic theater also served as home to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Its stage has welcomed figures including George Gershwin, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. After more than 30 years of vacancy, its restoration returns a cherished Cincinnati landmark to active cultural life.
Krista Katona Pille, Beth Johnson, Steve Karoly &Brian Schwartz.
About The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati
Celebrating 107 years this season, The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati is the nation’s oldest professional theatre for young audiences and the only professional theatre in the region devoted entirely to children. Through 60-minute MainStage productions at the reimagined Emery Theater, TCT on Tour bringing live theatre into schools across the region, and TCT Academy’s year-round classes and camps, TCT educates, entertains, and inspires more than 100,000 children and families each year, awakening a lifelong love of theatre in the young and the young at heart. For more information visit www.thechildrenstheatre.com.
About Terex Development & Construction:
Founded in 2014, Terrex Development & Construction is a Cincinnati-based firm providing development and construction services for commercial, nonprofit, institutional, and community projects. Its team guides clients from early planning through construction, with experience in historic renovations and complex redevelopment projects. Learn more at terrexllc.com.
About GBBN:
GBBN is an architecture and design firm whose work spans arts and culture, healthcare, higher education, workplaces, and community spaces. Combining creative design with technical expertise, GBBN helps clients create places that enrich people’s experiences and strengthen communities. Its portfolio includes historic restorations and performance venues, including the reimagined Emery Theater. Learn more at gbbn.com.
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