University President Dr. Robert Fisher announced Wednesday that Belmont will be building a new state-of-the-art performing arts center slated to open in fall 2021.
This building will deliver on Fisher’s hope to bring a larger performance venue to campus, something he has wanted since he started at Belmont 18 years ago.
“We are so pleased that we’re able to provide this for our remarkably talented students,” Fisher said in an email to Belmont students and faculty. “The addition of this venue completes our campus’ performance facilities, creating the most extensive suite of venues of any other institution of higher education that I know of.”
This new building will house a 1,700 seat theater, equipped with a full orchestra pit, fly space, wing space, two forestage lifts, a trap room under the stage and television broadcast capabilities.
The building, which will be located on Belmont Boulevard — filling the block between Bernard and Compton avenues — will also house a grand lobby and two event spaces.
“Considering how our enrollment is increasing, this is such an exciting time to be a part of the visual and performing arts department,” said Dr. Jane Duncan, associate dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. “I think that something this significant and visible is sure to have an impact on Belmont’s national recognition.”
Although the building will not open until after many current students graduate, junior music therapy major Jordan Sturgeon is excited for the opportunities that this space will provide for future students, she said.
“We’re always supposed to want better for the future generations, and I just think that this is an amazing opportunity for them,” said Sturgeon. “I’m definitely going to come back and visit it.”
The new space will help to fulfill needs created by a growing student population.
“I think the space is definitely needed,” said Rusty King, the production and facilities manager for Belmont’s School of Music. “We’re growing now, so it would be a whole lot easier to grow with the new space.”
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This is a developing story. We will update it as more information becomes available.
This article written by Liz Gresser and Katie Knipper. Building rendering courtesy of Belmont Office of Communications.