Historic board tables Rockwall Community Playhouse rezoning, demolition and new construction plan after residents raise concerns

The Rockwall Historic Preservation Advisory Board on Tuesday voted to table a request from the Rockwall Community Playhouse that would rezone a cluster of lots in the Old Town Rockwall Historic District, allow demolition of two medium-contributing structures and permit construction of a new performance center and separate practice hall.

The item, filed as case H2025-013 by Jonathan Brown, AIA of JHP Architecture and Urban Design on behalf of the playhouse, asked the board to approve three linked actions: (1) a planned development (PD) zoning that retains Single-Family 7 underlying zoning while adding "community theater" as a permitted use; (2) demolition of two medium-contributing structures and (3) construction of a new theater building with a separate practice hall on a roughly 1.0061-acre tract that includes multiple lots in the B.F. Boydston Addition.

Jonathan Brown, the project architect, said the playhouse began in 1995 and currently operates an roughly 80-seat facility at the site. Brown described a design strategy intended to "feel like a collection of buildings on a site, a…