Officials at Nazareth College are preparing for $6 million in renovations for the Arts Center, which will become the home of the Rochester City Ballet --- and of a major summer dance festival.

The Arts Center, says Nazareth president Daan Braveman, will be the area's preeminent mid-size theater with an emphasis on modern and ethnic dance.

The nearly 40-year-old Arts Center has a long history of attracting world-class dance troupes including Paul Taylor Dance, Judith Jamison, and Alvin Ailey. And Braveman sees the opportunity for Nazareth to become an Upstate New York center similar to Jacob's Pillow, the western Massachusetts dance attraction.

The 1,100-seat Arts Center is already home to the Rochester Children's Theatre and has had a 30-year relationship with Garth Fagan Dance.

The renovations will include a total reconfiguration of the stage and major upgrades to sound and lighting. Making it possible: $5.2 million in gifts. New York State Assembly member Joe Morelle, who chairs the Assembly's committee on the arts, and Assembly member David Gantt are directing $2 million to the project. Other contributors include the Sands family, the Wegman Family Charitable Foundation, the John and Jayne Summers Foundation, M&T Bank, and Harter, Secrest & Emery law firm.

Events at the Arts Center last year attracted 75,000 adults and 20,000 children. That should increase, Braveman says, with a summer dance festival similar to the one at Jacob's Pillow.

"We're thinking of a creating a festival where a number of dance groups from around the world are here, teaching during the day but performing during the evening," says Braveman. "We think it will be a major tourism attraction, and we have been in talks with the folks of Jacob's Pillow to see if maybe we can share some of the same dance groups."

The renovations will also include a new art gallery and a new entrance and reception area for the Arts Center. No schedule has been established, but Braveman says he hopes the renovations will be completed by the summer of 2008.