to this day. 1958 – The Civic Auditorium Trustees built an annex to the auditorium. This new facility, built one block south of the auditorium, was needed to give the players much needed shop and storage space. It also provided a multi purpose space that was used as a second performance area for experimental productions. It also was used as office and rehearsal space for the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. The trustees honored their manager of 30 years, Norman Carver, by naming the facility after him. 1958 – James Carver joined The Civic staff as a Production Assistant. 1960 – The Civic was the first community theatre in the nation to present "Raisin in the Sun". 1969 – The Civic entered its first AACT festival. Due to an accident during the performance they were unable to complete their performance. However, because of the quality of the performance they were given an Honorary Mention. 1974 – James Carver was promoted to Managing Director of The Civic. 1983 – "Fools", having won first place in State and Regional AACT/Fest competition, went on to represent The Civic at the National Festival. It was voted second place in National Competition. This Civic production represented the United States at an international theatre festival in England. 1989 – The Civic presented its 500th production "Our Town". 1994 – The Civic produced "Dancing at Lughnasa". This was another festival entrant, winning State, Regional, and National Competitions. They also received recognition for both the outstanding performance of the actors as well as design of the production. 1995 – A Capital Campaign was undertaken to fund a complete renovation of the Civic Auditorium as well as the construction of the Suzanne D. Parish Theatre. New electrical systems, rigging, stage flooring, and seating were installed in the auditorium as part of the renovation. Furnishings were reupholstered, and the walls were repainted. 1996 – Ground breaking took place for the new Suzanne D. Parish Theatre. It was built next to the Carver Center. 1997 – The Civic took "Dancing at Lughnasa" to Monaco to perform at an international festival sponsored by the Princess Grace Foundation. 1997 – James Carver retired from the Civic. 1998 – August 1998 brought the opening of a multi-million-dollar state of the art arena style performance space. In addition it doubled the shop space as well as giving the ever-growing Civic much needed storage space. 1999 – The