Infrastructure preparations are underway at the site of a future home for the visual and performing arts at UCCS.
On the Four Diamonds Sports Complex on the far western edge of campus, crews from Bryan Construction recently began preparing the area as the future home of a $60 million UCCS visual and performing arts venue, according to Gary Reynolds, assistant vice chancellor, Administration and Finance.
The site work will not disrupt Mountain Lion Field, Mountain Lion Stadium or parking until after the conclusion of the spring semester.
“The site work is different from the design of the new building,” Reynolds said. “What folks are seeing now is the very beginning stages of sculpting the ground as well as the installation of utilities.”
In late May, infrastructure work will intensify. Eagle Rock Road will be realigned, a roundabout constructed and parking lots relocated in anticipation of construction of the new arts venue. New water, sewer, electric, gas, and technology connections will be created. Access to the two remaining sports fields will be restricted over the summer. All roads and the new parking lots will be completed in time for the start of fall 2015 semester.
The design of the new visual and performing arts complex is led by Semple Brown Design, Denver, one of the most respected performing arts design firms in the West. Reynolds anticipates the design will be completed this summer and shared with the campus along with a construction timeline.
The new center will unify the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, now located in six locations across campus. The center will be designed to encourage and support working relationships with cultural organizations in the community and to provide direct public access to performances, exhibits and classes. The new, integrated complex will include a 750-seat main theater, a 250-seat recital hall, and the University’s 250-seat Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theatre, home to UCCS’s resident theater company, TheatreWorks, the Osborne Theatre, to be used by the theater and dance program, and the Gallery of Contemporary Art.
— Photos by Brad Johnson, Facilities Services
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