The Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center has reopened following a four-year closure that narrowed the island’s ability to attract big name acts and frustrated a rural arts community left with scant alternative venue options.

The island’s premier performing arts stage shuttered in March 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic broke out. But when the public health risk subsided, the state-funded concert stage remained dark due to faulty state beams that required extensive structural repairs, according to the college.

KCC hosted a blessing and reopening ceremony for the newly repaired Performing Arts Center earlier this month.

Centrally located on the college campus in Lihue, the theater in a typical year hosts up to 100 performances — from string quartets and tango ensembles to musicals and hula shows. The venue draws international and national talent but also accommodates nonprofit performing arts programs, including youth groups, with discounted rental rates.

On rural Kauai, the venue is in a league of its own. During its closure, local performing artists said they were forced to utilize venues with inadequate seating capacity, poor acoustics, no staff to help with production or which have higher rental costs.