Center for Theatre and Dance

Location
Decatur IL

Institution
Millikin University

Architect
BLDD Architects

Acoustician
Threshold

Owners Project Manager
Bradley Owens

Construction Manager
CORE Construction

The new Center for Theatre and Dance brings together the diverse needs of the university’s nationally ranked undergraduate program in musical theater, which was spread out among multiple retrofit spaces throughout Decatur. The centerpiece of the new building is a 265-seat courtyard theater with overhead wire grid, side wall galleries, and under stage traproom. A safe and efficient platform and seating system allows the theater to be transformed in a few hours to endstage, thrust, traverse, and arena configurations. Exceptional studio and production spaces round out a building dedicated to developing young performing artists, technicians, designers, and artisans.

Users
School of Theatre and Dance

Construction Type
New construction

Square Feet
61,000

Cost
$26 million

Completion
2020

Spaces
265-seat courtyard style flexible theater
Costume shop
Sound and lighting lab
3 Dance studios
3 Acting studios
Costume construction classroom
Design studios
Costume storage

Photography © BLDD Architects