SKyPAC opens Ramsey Annex
Published 2:22 pm Monday, October 26, 2026
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A plaque honoring the late Robert Ramsey looks down on visitors before the ribbon is cut on SKyPAC’s new Robert Ramsey Annex on Friday.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
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Joseph Trafton, music director of Orchestra Kentucky and the Ramsey Theatre Company, plays the keyboard with his wife Amy Tarantino inside a rehearsal room in SKyPAC’s new Robert Ramsey Annex on Friday.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
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Jeff Reed, head of the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center, speaks on the role of the arts in communities before the ribbon is cut on SKyPAC’s new Robert Ramsey Annex on Friday.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
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Warren Judge-Executive Doug Gorman speaks on the role of the arts in communities before the ribbon is cut on SKyPAC’s new Robert Ramsey Annex on Friday.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
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State Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green (center left), and SKyPAC head Jeff Reed (center right) cut the ribbon on SKyPAC’s new Robert Ramsey Annex on Friday.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)
The Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center’s footprint in downtown Bowling Green is now a little bit bigger after the venue dedicated the Robert P. Ramsey Annex on Friday, just over 18 months after dirt was first turned on the site.
“When you attend a production at SKyPAC, you see the finished product,” venue head Jeff Reed said during a ribbon cutting ceremony. “What you rarely see is what happens before the curtain goes up.”
Standing between the venue and the Historic Taylor’s Chapel Church in a space once known as the “grassy knoll,” the annex contains 20,000 square feet spread across four stories. A set and prop workshop are on the ground floor, with other spaces are set aside for offices.
On the second floor, two separate rehearsal rooms sit back-to-back. Despite being separated by walls, the floor area equals the size of SKyPAC’s stage.
The annex was built to give SKyPAC a central location for storage and more room for rehearsals. Reed said at last year’s groundbreaking the venue was losing an estimated $750,000 every year by not having a dedicated space for different needs.
A plaque hanging by the entrance to the annex pays tribute to Robert Ramsey, who helped found the Ramsey Theatre Company, the group that stages many of SKyPAC’s events. Ramsey led the company until his death last year at age 90.
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Reed spoke on the role Ramsey filled at the venue, describing him as a constant presence.
“It meant a lot for us to look out and know that someone who had done so much to support our work took such great pleasure in it,” Reed said.
Funding for the annex was provided through an $8.5 million allocation from the Kentucky General Assembly in 2024. State Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, spoke on the presence of the arts in Bowling Green.
“I’ve been in a lot of the other venues that we have here in Kentucky, (and) we have, I believe, the nicest one in the state,” Wilson said. ” … We are truly, truly blessed.”
About Jack Dobbs
Jack covers city government for the Daily News. Originally from Simpson County, he attended Western Kentucky University and graduated in 2022 with a degree in journalism.
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