ODC has room to grow. (Presstime News).

Growing families often need more space. Dance families are no different. The question for ODC/San Francisco, which celebrated its thirtieth birthday last year and has owned its home almost since the beginning, was: Move or expand? Over the years ODC has built up a variety of offerings. There's a modern dance training program for children; the ODC Theater, which presents more than 200 dance, music and theater programs a year; several annual residency programs for choreographers; and mentoring programs for beginning and intermediate choreographers, in addition to a slew of daily dance classes. In other words, ODC has become an institution and needs more space to accommodate all it has to offer.

After ODC's attempt to buy the building next door fell through last year, a kindly neighbor pointed out two contiguous two-story buildings on 351 and 363 Shotwell Street, around the corner from the company's current home. The larger one, built in the teens of the last century, had housed a laundry, with a mattress factory in the smaller one. Finally the two together had held a car body shop. Now they were empty.

ODC plunged in and bought the structures for $1.47 million, the purchase price being guaranteed by a small group of ODC patrons. Escrow closed in March; remodeling begins this summer. Move-in time is contemplated for early in 2004.

So what will ODC do with the additional 22,000 square feet, which will triple its current footage? There are plans to create five additional studios, the largest of which will measure 54 by 60 feet, with ceiling heights of 25 feet. There will also be a new 80-seat theater for low-tech performances. (The studios and performance space are expected to be operational by summer of 2003.) There are also plans to reconfigure the current space's 180-seat theater, which will remain in use.

The new space will have a Pilates studio and training center along with a dance injury prevention clinic. A media center with editing and dubbing facilities, and possibly a Web site design service, is in the works. There are to be separate office spaces for the company, the school, and the theater, and perhaps some space to rent to other dance organizations, too. There also are plans for a community meeting room, a company green room and--last but not least--a cafe.

ODC expects its recently launched capital campaign to raise $7 million, with roughly two-thirds designated for the renovation project. The rest will go to the Artistic Venture Fund, which funds new choreography for the company, and a planned building maintenance fund.