Dumbo theater troupe wins Tobacco Warehouse bid

The St. Ann’s Warehouse theater company has been picked to take over Dumbo’s Tobacco Warehouse, the vacant, roofless 19th-century site in Brooklyn Bridge Park, and turn it into a $15 million community and performance center, the Brooklyn Paper reported. St. Ann’s said it has already raised one-third of the funds needed for the conversion project, which is slated for completion by 2013 and includes an open-air plaza, indoor performance space and showroom. Still, the troupe’s selection didn’t come without controversy, as some local politicians have alleged that the bidding process was, at best, non-transparent. Proposals for the site were revealed less than 48 hours before the final vote and never went up for public review, as many had hoped, and others have criticized the fact that the plan won’t provide any revenue for the park. [Brooklyn Paper]