Just say the word “wicked” to Susan Herlihy and Jill Stilwell, and you can almost see Broadway-sized images of ensemble numbers, intricate costumes and larger-than-life sets dancing in their eyes.

Herlihy, Lincoln Center public relations coordinator, and Stilwell, Fort Collins director of cultural services, can almost picture the faces of Fort Collins audiences lit up in emerald green. They can almost hear the rich soprano ringing in their ears.

Almost—but not.

Shows like Wicked are now only a pipe dream for those in charge of entertaining locals and visitors in Fort Collins. No venue in town would be big enough for such a production. No stage could deliver the sound quality or offer enough backstage space for the props and hordes of actors.

For some time, those in Fort Collins' arts and culture scene have said the lack of space and diversity in local facilities is keeping the city from realizing its potential. And after studying Fort Collins' cultural landscape for more than a year, a team of consultants has confirmed just that.

“For the community, the size and scope of the facilities is limiting and stifling the growth of the offerings,” Stilwell said. “It's artificially putting a cap on it.”

In the newly announced Cultural Facilities Plan final report, the study team determined that there is a continuing need for updating current facilities like the city-owned Lincoln Center as well as increasing the number and variety of local venues. In fact, they have recommended increasing the city's artistic fleet by five cultural facilities, five performance facilities and two infrastructural projects.

While there is no guarantee that any of the recommendations will come to be, the report paints a picture of a culturally thriving city: with intimate theaters, touring Broadway shows, and tons of room for local artists, writers, dancers, actors, troupes, groups and bands.

“It's a very exciting time,” Herlihy said. “There is just so much cultural energy.”

The two-part feasibility study for the project was commissioned in 2006 to determine the future cultural needs of the community, the current usage, the potential for new facilities and possible partnerships as well as operational and business analyses.

With the growing and highly educated population to support the arts and the large, high-quality group of performing arts organizations in town, the report states that “the size and depth of Fort Collins' cultural organizations and their programs is stifled by the size and quality of existing facilities.”

Though the report says local cultural organizations would likely need to grow their incomes to be able to support themselves within new facilities, it is clear that these groups need new space to increase the “depth and breadth of their programs.” There is also a need for a facility to host bigger and better touring shows.

Because of the “risky” financial situation for some of the cultural nonprofits in town, the report recommends that the city develop an arts council to support, educate and advocate for local organizations. And because Fort Collins residents are more likely to buy a ticket than to donate funds, the report suggests creating an initiative to inspire “the next generation” of donors.

As far as cultural facility recommendations, the study found that there is a need for renovations to current spaces or construction of others: an update of Club Tico; the construction of two community arts centers on the south side of town; a new facility for visual and literary artists; a new museum at the Lindenmeier site; and more administrative and production space for organizations that now run out of homes or expensive rented office space.

The report gives five recommendations for performance facilities, including a black box theater, mid-sized theater with 500 to 800 seats, a 1,500- to 1,800-seat performance hall, a large 2,500-seat venue, and an amphitheater. It also recommends a renovation of the 30-year-old Lincoln Center, which Stilwell and Herlihy say is an integral part of the local cultural mix.

While all the recommendations from the report are pivotal in bettering the situation from local arts organizations, if the two women have their druthers, they'd opt for the development of the 1,800-seat performance hall, the facility that could make their Wicked dreams come true.

“Instead of letting the current space dictate what shows we get, we can bring in what people want,” Stilwell said.

The recommendations are long term, 25 to 50 years out. No funding is yet available for new cultural or performing facilities. A voter-approved sales tax for capital projects will fund the study, the Cultural Facilities Plan and changes to the Lincoln Center. The tax will give $6 million to a new downtown facility for the Fort Collins Museum and Discovery Science Center and $5 million for renovating the Lincoln Center.

Stilwell says there are many partnership opportunities for facilities, like a Beet Street outdoor venue. And private development, like the Bohemian Foundation's future venue on the Oxbow property, will also help satisfy the local hunger for performance venues.

The next step, Stilwell said, is prioritizing the recommendations and getting approval from City Council.