Spring - Klein Edition | November 2023

LSCUniversity Park to debut long-awaited $25M visual, performing arts center From the cover

The timeline

A closer look

Under the 2014 bond, LSC UP’s Visual and Performing Arts Center was allotted about $29.3 million, according to Sept. 7 meeting documents from LSCS’s board of trustees. In December 2019, the project was expected to cost around $21.67 million to build. However, the project’s construction has cost about $25 million so far, said Priscilla Arteaga, division operations manager for LSC UP. Due to in‰ated material costs seen during the project’s timeline, leaders were forced to scale down some aspects of the original plan, Ander- son said Oct. 23. The project was conceived to measure between 30,000-40,000 square feet, but some features—such as individual faculty o“ces that changed to a shared o“ce space—evolved. “Since we did lose such a large percentage of our square footage, we had to create ‰exibility with each of our rooms,” Anderson said. The department is communicating with the Lone Star College Foundation about potential additional funding for speci—c equipment that may be needed in the facility in the future, Arteaga said.

“Our current space cannot accommodate student demand,” Anderson said in an Oct. 25 email. “With the addition of the VPAC, we can meet the student’s needs and expand our o†ering to the community at large. More speciˆcally, this facility will also enable us to o†er more programs in art, drama and music that will increase opportunities for LSC-UP students.”

Features of the new LSC-UP Visual and Performing Arts Center include facilities for the various disciplines that make up the college’s visual and performing arts department. The center was designed not only to give current students more space but to account for department growth, said Jonathan Anderson, LSC-UP’s dean of arts and humanities.

Art facilities include: 1 An art gallery 2 An art studio

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Drama facilities include: 3 A 338-seat auditorium with an orchestra pit, catwalks, sound and lighting booths 4 A 100-seat black box theater 5 A costume design room 6 A scenery shop for designing and building sets 7 Dressing rooms with showers

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Music facilities include: 8 A music ensemble classroom 9 Practice rooms

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Other space is included for: 10 Combined of›ice space for faculty 11 Classrooms

Entryway

Project timeline

Exterior

Voters approve LSCS’s $485M bond, which includes LSC-UP’s Visual and Performing Arts Center project. November 2014 Hurricane Harvey delays groundbreaking after LSCS is forced to spend $60M repairing ˜ood damage on campuses. August 2017

SOURCE: LONE STAR COLLEGE‘UNIVERSITY PARK•COMMUNITY IMPACT

2017

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2020

The coronavirus pandemic causes delays. September 2020

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A 100-seat black box theater is one of multiple features in LSCUP’s new VPAC.

Students and faculty tour LSCUP’s new VPAC as construction nears completion.

Spikes in material costs and labor shortages continue to delay the project. October 2021

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Exterior

Entryway

Construction begins. May 31, 2022

2023

A grand opening ceremony will be held. Dec. 6, 2023 Classes will be held in the center. January 2024

Lone Star College-University Park’s Visual and Performing Arts Center will be opening on Dec. 6.

The 31,000-square-foot center will host its rst classes in the spring 2024 semester.

SOURCES: LONE STAR COLLEGEUNIVERSITY PARK; JONATHAN ANDERSON, LSCUP’S DEAN OF ARTS AND HUMANITIESCOMMUNITY IMPACT

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