By Cliff Bellamy

cbellamy@heraldsun.com; 419-6744

DURHAM -- Sometime this week, officials at the Durham Performing Arts Center expect to reach a count of 250,000, the number of patrons who will have walked through the center since it opened a year ago.

The theater expects to reach that milestone Wednesday or Thursday, during the current run of the Broadway show "Phantom of the Opera," Rachel Gragg, assistant marketing and public relations director for the DPAC, announced Monday during a ceremony and cake-cutting marking the first anniversary of the center.

Monday was the one-year anniversary of the first night of performances in DPAC, when local blues band Mel Melton and The Wicked Mojos opened for headliner B.B. King. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the open house ceremony, when Jaume Plensa's light sculpture "Sleep No More" was unveiled.

Durham Mayor Bill Bell cut the first slice from the cake -- bearing a photo image of the DPAC and the letters "Happy 1st Birthday" -- while Mayor Pro Tem Cora Cole-McFadden led the crowd in "Happy Birthday."

The 250,000 number is one of several milestones the theater reached during its first year. In his remarks, Bell once again pointed out the facility exceeded earnings expectations by four times last year. The city had expected about $100,000 in net income from its contract with Nederlander and Professional Facilities Management Inc., the companies that run the theater. Earlier this month, the city announced that it earned $401,706 in the first year.

Bell called the arts "a very vital part" of Durham's civic life, and "one of the many things that gives it a sense of place." He added, "Hopefully, we will celebrate many successful birthdays to come."

MaryAnn Black, who served on Durham's Board of County Commissioners when the idea for a performing arts center first emerged, also spoke to the audience. During those early planning days, "I wanted to have a performing arts center, not another facility that would play music," said Black, who now chairs the DPAC Oversight Committee. "Many of you were here when we talked about the dream of a performing arts center, and now the dream is a reality."

In other milestones during the first year, the DPAC announced earlier that it had sold out 25 shows, among them concerts by Willie Nelson and comedian Bill Cosby, and the full week of Oprah Winfrey's "The Color Purple."

Two artistic works that premiered at the theater also were perfected and finalized at the theater, or designed specifically for the space -- the multimedia show "Cirque Dreams Illumination" and choreographer Mark Dendy's sight-specific work for American Dance Festival's inaugural night at the DPAC.

The theater's unexpected first-year success occurred during a difficult year economically for the country. In brief interviews after their remarks, both Bell and Black attributed the success to the wide range of ticket prices, and people's need for the solace that the arts give in a tough time.

"My thinking is that people still need to escape," said Black, who added that the range of ticket prices allows visitors to do so at a reasonable cost. Bell also cited the cross-section of shows and concerts that appeal to a wide age group. Even in a bad economy with all its fallout, "I think people want to have the opportunity to have a good time," Bell said, and the DPAC offers them "another outlet."