Fact Sheet

SITE DESCRIPTION

California State University, Fullerton's new Performing Arts Center is the most recent addition to the facilities in the College of the Arts. It is situated on the west side of campus, east of the recently opened Nutwood Parking Structure and just west of the original Performing Arts Building. The new Performing Arts Center boasts 4 new performance venues. Also in the facility are a series of warm-up, practice and dressing rooms, a recording studio, a musical theatre rehearsal hall, 2 state-of-art dance studios, a new costume shop and scene shop, along with some faculty offices and classrooms.

In addition, the new facility has been connected to the current structure which also hosts 3 performance sites—the Area Theatre with a 100-seat capacity, the Recital Hall with a 200-seat capacity and the Little Theatre, which seats 500.

AREA

109,000 square feet

COMPLETION

September 2005 with grand opening scheduled for January 2006

SEATING CAPACITY

COST

$48.5M

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

Designer Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (HHPA), now known as Pfeiffer Partners, Inc., was selected because of their distinguished reputation in designing for the arts. Their performing arts projects have been celebrated for their innovative architectural and acoustical design and have won national and international acclaim. Previous projects have included University of North Texas Lucille "Lupe" Murchison Performing Arts Center (Denton, TX), Colburn School of Performing Arts (Los Angeles, CA), Princeton University, Roger S. Berlind Theater at the McCarter Theater Center (Princeton, NJ), North Carolina School of the Arts, Agnes DeMille Theater (Winston-Salem, NC), and University of Notre Dame - Marie P. DeBartolo Center for the Arts (Notre Dame, Indiana).

The largest performance site in the facility is the Vaughncille Joseph Meng Concert Hall. This venue will be the home to the University’s stellar choral and instrumental ensembles, along with special visiting artists -- bringing a broad musical palate to North Orange County. Designed to compliment all types of large ensembles, rising from the back of the Marcy Arroues Mulville stage is a set of seats which can be utilized for choral ensembles -- when performing with orchestra, or for audience members. The hall is an intimate space designed in a traditional shoebox style, with box seating both on the ground level and balcony levels in addition to orchestra seating, parterre seating and general balcony seating.

The James D. Young Theatre will be the major stage for dramatic productions from the classics to contemporary offerings presented by the Department of Theatre & Dance’s award-winning students. This thrust-stage theatre is designed to bring the actors to the center of the space with seating on three sides, both on the floor level and in the balcony. This intimate space is designed to engage the audience and make the theatre-going experience more meaningful. Dr. Young, was the founding chairman of the Department of Theatre and Dance, and continues to take a very active role in the University both in action and with his generous donations reaching back to the 1970s.

The Hallberg Theatre is built in the black box tradition, and includes flexible seating from in the round to a more traditional formation. This space will feature experimental productions and will showcase new plays. Named for Dale and Millie Hallberg, these friends of the University have been active members in the College’s Art Alliance and University donors for many years.
The new performance dance studio, named for the McGarvey Family, is designed for both instruction and performance. The studio will showcase new dance choreography as well as individual dance recitals. The flooring -- unique for dance -- and theatre lighting will offer a warm and audience friendly space to enjoy these dance concerts. William McGarvey, an active member of the Fullerton community, has supported the University since the mid 1960s. He has served on the University Advisory Board and is a President’s Scholar Patron in addition to this gift to affirm his dedication to dance education.

The grand lobby is a light and spacious area with a full wall of windows and dramatic lighting. Bringing the outside in, it will serve as the grand reception area for the Meng Concert Hall, Young Theatre and Hallberg Theatre.

Other named spaces include:
• Lee and Nicholas Begovich Box
• Dan Black '67 and Kathy Chao Black Box
• Janet and Allan Bridgford Box
• Lois M. Brockett Costume Shop
• Cal State Fullerton Alumni Association Parterre
• Ruth Marie Capelle Vocal Practice Room
• Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb Box
• Gallio Del Giorgio Family Box
• Dhont Family Foundation Box and Dance Studio
• Peggy M. Hammer Box
• Gloria Harrison CAD Studio
• Thomas A. and Anne Key Dressing Room
• Dr. Joseph W. Landon Instrument Room
• Kathryn T. McCarty Dance Studio
• Mary E. Moore Reception Room
• Donald Murphy Family Box
• Ann and Douglas Myles Box
• Phelps Family Box
• Elaine M. Redfield Warm Up Room
• Kathryn Sims Dressing Room
• Jerry Samuelson Musical Theatre Rehearsal Room
• Melanie A. Smith Make-up Studio
• Ernest R. Sweet Lighting Studio
• Dottie Young Reception (Green) Room
• Douglas R., Terry F. and Megan Young Audio Studio

Kajima Construction Services Inc. led phase one of the construction, and Hensel Phelps Construction Company headed the second phase.

ACOUSTICS

Mark Rothermel Associates/McKay Conant Brook Inc.
MCB, a California corporation organized in 1987, provides consulting services in all areas of building acoustics and audiovisual systems. Ron McKay, Dave Conant and Mark Rothermel have over 80 years of combined experience on over 2000 buildings. Previous projects have included Royce Hall, Ambassador and Zipper auditoriums, and scores of broadcast, film and recording facilities. Other recent work include the Hawaii, Los Angeles and Oregon convention centers, EuroDisneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, Disney’s California Adventure, two large facilities for Walt Disney Feature Animation, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, plus a score of major performing arts venues throughout the West.

update 12/1/05