Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center is a 52,000 square foot facility, which houses the Ella Fitzgerald Theater, a 276 seat venue that honors the "First Lady of Song," who was born in Newport News in 1917.  It also offers a banquet room, a multipurpose room, two exhibit galleries and several smaller meeting rooms---plenty of room for your group’s performance event!  Originally built as the Walter Reed School, this historic building has been restored and was reopened to the public in October 2008.