May-June 2023 Construction Zone: Event/Auditorium facilities

Performing arts center under construction at Cal State San Bernardino

California State University, San Bernardino, is scheduled to open a $126 million performing arts facility during the 2024-25 academic year.

The university says the 73,337 square-foot Performing Arts Center that is now under construction will have a 500-seat theater and music instruction space. It is being built south of the university’s existing Performing Arts Building.

The center will provide teaching, rehearsal and performance spaces necessary for a modern performing arts program. The 500-seat theater will be the only one of its size and quality in the Inland Empire and will enable more of the area’s community to experience the productions from Cal State San Bernardino student-performers and student-musicians. The building will also create a new “front door” to the campus that shows a modern and forward-looking face to visitors and the larger community.

The architect is HGA Architects, and the general contractor is Rudolph and Sletten.

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$52 million performing arts venue under construction in Springdale, S.C.

Lexington (S.C.) School District Two is building a $52 million performing arts center in Springdale that will open in 2024.

The district says the venue—the Lexington Two Performing Arts Center, or L2PAC for short—will provide a space for performances and special events. It will have a two-level balcony with seating for roughly 1,550, as well as four meeting and event breakout spaces.

The facility will have upgraded stage lighting and sound systems, along with dressing rooms, set storage and backstage areas, to accommodate a range of opportunities in dance, music and theater. 

The primary mission for the center will be use by district students, schools and employees, with additional opportunities for use in professional development and planning, statewide conferences, conventions, and student competitions, as well as community and cultural events.

The center also will provide space for school district offices.

The performing arts center is the final piece of the Lexington Two’s $225 million bond referendum approved by voters in 2014. 

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Upgrades of performing arts facilities are nearing completion at College of William & Mary

The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., is expected to open updated performing arts facilities in fall 2023.

University officials say that when the construction work is completed, the dance department will join the theater department in the newly renovated Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall. The music department will move into its own new building.

The renovated Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall will have a new main stage theatre and space for recital, rehearsal and dance. It also will have a studio theater, scenic art and construction lab spaces, costume construction and conservation areas, media and design labs, dressing rooms and assorted acting labs, classrooms and seminar rooms.

The music building will have a concert hall, recital hall, choral rehearsal space and a recording studio. Other spaces include an electronic music lab, keyboard lab, music library and digital projects lab, as well as areas for instrumental rehearsal, instrument and score storage, and a specialized percussion studio.

Both performing arts buildings are being designed and constructed with sustainable initiatives in mind and are aiming to received LEED Silver certification.

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Performing arts center open at high school in Nixa, Mo.

The Nixa (Mo.) school district has opened a $14 million performing arts center on the campus of Nixa High School.

The district says the1,150-seat facility will provide the district with a single location for band, choir, and theatre performances, and will enable all its schools to have a professional place for their performances. In addition, the Aetos will host national touring performances, drawing people to Nixa and providing economic opportunities for our businesses and organizations.

The funding to build the venue came from a 2019 bond issue approved by voters.

The performance hall inside of the Aetos Center will officially be known as the Meridian Title Performance Hall, the result of a $300,000 five-year partnership between the Nixa district and Meridian.

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Western Illinois University is building a $110 million performing arts center

Construction has begun on a $110 million Center for Performing Arts on the Western Illinois University campus in Macomb.

The university says the 100,000-square-foot building will be outfitted with classrooms, offices, practice rooms, studios and performance spaces. The Great Hall, a 900-seat proscenium theater, will provide performance space for music, theater and dance productions as well as regional and national touring performances. A smaller black box theater will provide a more intimate space for campus productions.

The center is the first state-funded building for Western Illinois since the 1970s. It will enable the College of Fine Arts and Communication to consolidate into a more centralized location.

"The Center for Performing Arts will cement the foundation of excellence that is performing arts at Western Illinois University,” says Billy Clow, dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication. “When the center is complete, WIU will be the destination for arts and culture in our region and beyond."

Construction is expected to be completed by fall 2024. The architects are Cannon Design and Pelli Clarke Pelli, and the builder is River City Construction.

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High school in Fairfield, Calif., is adding a performing arts center

Fairfield High School in Fairfield, Calif., is undergoing a $46 million upgrade that includes construction of a performing arts center.

Fairfield-Suisun (Calif.) district officials say the facility will be used by other high schools in the district and will be available for community events, reports KCRA-TV. 

In addition to the performing arts space, the renovation of the high school will

update and expand the kitchen, repair and relocate athletic fields, and add a sports medicine and weight room.