1. SECTION HOME.



2. TO THE COMMUNITY.
   
   
3. A DREAM COME TRUE.
   A history of how the center came to be.



4. IMPORTANT DATES.
   A timeline of the center.



5. FOR THE CHILDREN.
   Center will allow all ages to experience the arts.



6. THE PLACE TO BE.
   Expect more than performances at the center.



7. HOMEGROWN.
   The center will be home to four resident companies.



8. LET THE PARTY BEGIN.
   Art & Wine Festival kicks off events.



9. CURTAINS UP.
   A calendar of events for the coming year.



10. A STORIED HISTORY.
    The arts have long been a part of community.



11. THE PRICE TAG.
    How the center has been funded.



12. MAKING IT HAPPEN.
    The board of directors, board of trustees, donors, contractors and design team.

Important Dates

May 1997: Modesto Mayor Dick Lang appoints Marie Gallo to assemble study team on feasibility of building performing-arts center.

March 1998: Stanislaus County and the city of Modesto approve giving $50,000 each toward conducting a feasibility study for a performing-arts center.

May 1998: The Modesto Bee conducts a survey that shows widespread support for an arts center.

June 1999: The Central Valley Center for the Arts (the nonprofit organization that runs the Gallo center) concludes that the organization, the financing and the construction of a performing-arts center needs to be a three-way partnership consisting of Stanislaus County, the city of Modesto and the Central Valley Center for the Arts.

July 1999: Gallo family pledges $10 million toward endowment; the Central Valley Center for the Arts is incorporated as a nonprofit public-benefit corporation; the site is designated as the block bounded by H, I, 10th and 11th streets.

October 1999: Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation pledges $5 million toward endowment.

July 2000: The city of Modesto announces it cannot afford to pay its share of the cost of the performing-arts center.

August 2000: The Modesto City Council votes to place Measure F on the ballot to increase the city's hotel tax from 9 percent to 11 percent in order to finance a contribution toward the arts center; the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors approves the funding of $12.5 million plus the land for the construction site, valued at $2.5 million.

November 2000: Measure F fails.

January 2001: The Central Valley Center for the Arts announces a plan to raise money even though Measure F failed.

March 2001: The Board of Supervisors approves going forward with a partnership with the Central Valley Center for the Arts without the support of the city.

April 2001: The Board of Supervisors votes to name the arts center the Gallo Performing Arts Center in honor of the Gallo family (the name is later changed to Gallo Center for the Arts).

May 2001: Capital campaign kickoff; Foster Poultry Farms announces pledge of $3 million toward campaign.

August 2001: The Central Valley Center for the Arts hires its first employee, Claudine Gray.

September 2001: Initial design approved.

May 2002: Revised design approved.

March 2003: A demolition ceremony is held at the construction site; Michael G. Grice, hired as the center's executive director, starts in June.

March 2004: Construction contract is awarded to Sacramento's Clark & Sullivan Builders; Grice submits resignation, leaves job in July.

April 2004: Groundbreaking; campaign kicks off to raise $5 million for the center's interior equipment and furnishings.

August 2005: Brian McCurdy hired as executive director, starts in October.

December 2005: Topping-out ceremony marks completion of building's highest structural element.

June 2006: McCurdy's resignation announced.

January 2007: Dave Pier starts as the executive director of the Gallo Center for the Arts.

June 2007: Officials at the Gallo Center for the Arts test the lighting; contractors put finishing touches on concrete in the center plaza.

July 2007: Carpet is laid and seat installation begins; Gallo Center for the Arts holds volunteer orientation for ushers, ticket takers, greeters, office aide, receptionists and more.

September 2007: Gala opening scheduled.