Virginia Tech marked an important milestone for the $89 million Center for the Arts Monday during an official groundbreaking ceremony.
The center, set to open in 2013 in the area that now houses Shultz Hall, will feature a 1,300-seat performance hall, several visual art galleries and be the home of the new Center for Creative Technologies in the Arts, which will focus on research for applying the arts and technology to preschool through high school programs in the New River Valley.
Ruth Waalkes, center director; Charles Steger, university president; Ron Rordam, Blacksburg mayor; and Congressman Rick Boucher (D — 9th district) spoke to a crowd of about 100 Monday afternoon about the opportunities that the Center will hopefully offer not just to the Tech community but also to the New River Valley.
Waalkes said during her remarks she hopes for the Center to be “not just a building, but an endeavor that will change forever” the university.
Steger and Rordam both commented on their hopes that the center will help both Tech and Blacksburg become nationally known for more than engineering and science.
The Center for the Arts ties in with Blacksburg’s strategic plan for expansion downtown. A portion of that plan is already underway with construction on North Main Street at the intersections of College Avenue, Alumni Mall and Prices Fork Road.
“A decade ago, when we began to map out the master plan for downtown ... the idea of an arts district emerged,” Rordam said.
Rordam added that he hoped the center would help to improve the quality of live for residents and contribute to economic development in the town by attracting new businesses, visitors and faculty.
“As a town, we will continue to work toward an arts district,” he said.
Steger echoed Rordam’s hopes that the center would strengthen the university’s ties with Blacksburg and the surrounding area, including Roanoke.
The center plans to partner with the Taubman Gallery in Roanoke on the sharing of exhibits.
Steger also said he hoped the center would reinforce his “commitment to students to provide the very best education.”
“I firmly believe (the arts) are integral into the education of a complete person,” he said.
Waalkes, Steger, Rordam, Boucher and others, including Jack Davis, dean of the college of architecture; Mark McNamee, university Provost; Minnis Ridenour, senior fellow for resource development; Sue Ott Rowlands, dean of the college of liberal arts and human sciences, scooped the first ceremonial shovelfuls of dirt.
Waalkes said after the ceremony she expects construction to begin in July, and that the first stages of construction would be close to Shultz Hall, which will be renovated during the construction process.
