Kentucky Opera receives more than $1.3 million for new Louisville opera center

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The Kentucky Opera celebrated the shared vision of community health through creative expression.

The organization said it received over $1.3 million dollars in donations for a recently opened opera center in downtown Louisville.

Longtime donor and former board member Christina Lee Brown donated $1 million to Kentucky Opera and close friend and donor Rose Mary Toebbe donated over $325,000 for the new cultural hub, according to a release.

The location at 708 Magazine Street serves as a compliment to the historic Brown Theater, where the opera has performed for more than 60 years, to help expand youth and family programs, host nonprofit organizations and create collaborative programming.

On Monday, Louisville mayor Craig Greenberg honored Kentucky Opera and the impact the organization it has had on the community.

“We see first hand as parents, and I see first hand as mayor, how the performing arts and how organizations like the Kentucky Opera can be such an important part of people’s lives that can expand young adults and older adults horizons, can get people to think creatively, to think innovatively, and most importantly, bring people together,” Greenberg said.

The opera center will now be named the Kentucky Opera Center for Cultural Health in recognition for Brown’s commitment to promote healthy communities. The center’s community hall has been named the Rose Mary Toebbe Community Hall.