Calvin College says $15M Fine Arts Center expansion retains intimate atmosphere for performances

Deborah Johnson Wood

In Calvin College's Fine Arts Center auditorium, performers can look into the eyes of the audience and often don't need a microphone in the nearly acoustically perfect space – and that's not going to change.

The $15 million building expansion currently underway calls for improvements to the sound and lighting equipment, new seating and décor, and enhancements to the on-stage acoustics so performers can hear each other better -- but the intimacy will remain.

The auditorium is the core of the building, now called Covenant Fine Arts Center. Once ringed by classrooms, it will now be ringed by an art gallery, recital hall and myriad practice rooms for the music education department.

"The East Beltline side will have a major educational and office wing, backstage services, the music library, piano garages, nine teaching studios and 18 practice rooms," says Henry DeVries, vice president.

The practice rooms include separate spaces for choral rehearsals and instrumental rehearsals, a new green room for performers and dressing rooms.

An addition on the building's west side includes a 240-seat recital hall and an art gallery for display of Calvin's permanent collection and for traveling exhibitions. The current gallery on the lower level of the campus's Spoelhof Center has ceilings too low for taller installations and the gallery is hard to find.

"People will now be able to visit the gallery during concert intermissions," DeVries says. "And the smaller recital hall is something we didn't have before."

The two-story addition includes offices for the English and music departments on the second level.

DeVries expects construction to wrap up in late fall. The college will dedicate the building on October 20.

GMB Architects + Engineers designed the building. Acoustics By Design handled the acoustics engineering for the auditorium. Rockford Construction is the construction manager.

Source: Henry DeVries, Calvin College

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].