Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

St. Mary’s College Opens New Performing Arts Building

  • By Matt Jones
  • 09/29/22

St. Mary’s College of Maryland in St. Mary’s City, Maryland, recently debuted its new performing arts center to the public. The college held a daylong celebration on Saturday, Sept. 24, in honor of the new Nancy R. and Norton T. Dodge Performing Arts Center. The new facility will house the campus’ music department and includes amenities like music labs, rehearsal rooms and a recital hall with a capacity of 125, according to local news.

Other features include a 700-seat auditorium for concerts and other large gatherings, as well as a lobby area featuring floor-to-ceiling, curved glass windows for receptions. The facility is named after Norton Dodge, who served as an economics professor at the college from 1980–89, a member of the board of trustees from 1968–1979, and a director of the St. Mary’s College of Maryland Foundation from 1980–2000, according to local news. Dodge passed away in 2011.

“The impact of the performing arts center on the college cannot be overstated,” said St. Mary’s College of Maryland President Tuajuanda Jordan.

The college also opened a new Learning Commons adjacent to the performing arts center. The Commons will play home to the college’s department of educational studies, as well as a café and student study space. The combined cost of the two buildings was $66 million, which was funded through the state of Maryland and $2.5 million in private donations.

According to the college’s website, the college partnered with design firms Graham Gund Architects of Boston and GWWO Architects of Baltimore, and Holder Construction Company served as the Construction Manager at Risk. Construction began in late January 2020.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • California District Opens New Robotics Center

    The Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD) in Cupertino, Calif., recently held a Grand Opening ceremony for a new, district-wide Robotics Center, according to a news release. The 14,500-square-foot facility was designed by Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA); Landmark Constructors served as the builder and Blach Construction as general construction manager.

  • URI Cuts Underwater Ribbon on New Ocean Robotics Laboratory

    The University of Rhode Island recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Ocean Robotics Laboratory at its Narragansett Bay Campus, according to a news release. Two students used a remotely operated vehicle to cut an underwater ribbon in a 30-by-20-foot test tank.

  • How Proactive Maintenance Can Transform Athletic Facilities into Strategic Assets for College Sports

    College athletics is entering one of the most transformative periods in its history. With NIL reshaping financial models and competitive expectations, athletic departments across the country are being asked to do more than ever with increasingly constrained resources.

  • Dallas-Area District Debuts Three New Facilities

    The Duncanville Independent School District in southwest Dallas, Texas, recently held ribbon-cutting ceremonies for three new facilities that resulted from a $170-million bond program passed in 2023, according to a news release.