The Illinois Capital Development Board (CDB) announced April 13 that OWP/P Cannon Design, Inc. has been selected as the preferred architectural design firm for the new Center for Performing Arts (CPA) at Western Illinois University.
“Illinois is home to the best universities and research centers in the world and boasts a talented workforce that attracts companies from across the globe,” said Gov. Pritzker. “The new performing arts center at Western Illinois University, made possible through funding from the historic bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital plan, will further cement the University’s place as a world-class institution that excels in preparing talented students for the careers of tomorrow.”
The $89 million project is moving forward thanks to Governor J.B. Pritzker’s bi-partisan Rebuild Illinois capital plan, the first in nearly a decade. In February 2020, Gov. Pritzker announced that the CDB released $8.9 million to restart the Center for the Performing Arts (CPA) project on the Macomb campus.
“The Capital Development Board looks forward to working with OWP/P Cannon Design, Inc. in the planning and design of the WIU Performing Arts Center,” said CDB Executive Director Jim Underwood.
The Center for the Performing Arts (formerly called the Performing Arts Center), which will support the academic mission and programs in the College of Fine Arts and Communication, will include an approximately 900-seat proscenium theatre and a 150-seat flexible studio theatre. There also will be dance, jazz, percussion and theatre rehearsal studios and classrooms to facilitate the academic mission of the building, which complements numerous academic programs; dressing rooms adjacent to the theatres; professional and technical support spaces; a box office; administration offices and a loading dock that will accommodate semis and buses for professional touring companies and orchestras.
“We are profoundly grateful for Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Capital Development Board for selecting an architectural firm and releasing the funds to complete the design process, which will lead to the construction of our much-anticipated WIU Center for the Performing Arts,” said Western Illinois University President Guiyou Huang. “We look forward to the day when we can open this outstanding center that will benefit our students, faculty and staff
In 2011, the WIU Foundation announced that Tate Lindahl, a retired WIU administrator and Macomb resident, had arranged for a seven-figure bequest in his estate plans to assist in the maintenance of the center. In 2013, alumni Kenneth and Lorraine Epperson pledged a seven-figure gift for the center. The 5,000 square-foot iconic lobby will be named in their honor, and Herb and Nancy Strong of Macomb have funded the donation of the Herb and Nancy Strong Steinway Concert Grand Piano, which will reside in the center.
Construction on the Center for Performing Arts is slated to beginning in early 2022, with an anticipated opening of August 2024.
***Report Courtesy of Western Illinois University***
