This effort involved a collection of renovated and new buildings that have significantly enhanced the University’s teaching and performance capabilities. Formerly a women’s gymnasium, the Dieterle Vocal Arts Center now serves as home to several academic departments and includes faculty studios, private coaching rooms, warm-up rooms, a 100-seat choral rehearsal room, the Nippert Rehearsal Studio, and the choral library and archives. Also, Memorial Hall was converted from a dormitory into individual and chamber music practice rooms and teaching studios.
The centerpiece of the College Conservatory of Music, Corbett Center for the Performing Arts, features a fully equipped proscenium theater and a theater production wing. Specific facilities include: dance studios, therapy and dressing rooms; large movement and acting rehearsal rooms; a digital recording and editing studio; teaching studios; smart classrooms; orchestral and band rehearsal halls; a record library; and administrative offices for several academic departments. The Center also houses the Patricia Corbett Theater (a 380-seat modified thrust theater), the 140-seat Watson Recital Hall, a Theater Production Wing (scene and costume shops, sound design studio, and theater design and production offices), Corbett Auditorium (an elegant 738-seat concert hall with guest and chorus dressing rooms and warm-up facilities), and the Cohen Family Studio Theater, a 150-seat flexible performance space.
The scope of this project also included the demolition and rebuilding of Mary Emery Hall which houses administrative and instructional space, a television production center and newsroom, a multimedia laboratory, Internet-ready classrooms, faculty offices and the CCM Café. The new facility is situated atop a new 400-car, three-level parking garage.