Billy Clow came to Western Illinois University in 2012 to serve as Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication. One year earlier, the university held a groundbreaking ceremony for a performing arts center.
However, not a spade of dirt had been turned since that ceremony in April 2011. Some wondered whether the center would ever get built.
On Friday, a sunny Autumn day in western Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker removed any doubt.
“I am proud to announce an investment of $119 million for a new, best-in-class, Center for Performing Arts here at Western Illinois University,” the governor told the hundreds of students, administration, staff, local dignitaries, and others who gathered for the outdoor event at the site where the center will be built.
A long time coming
Clow said, “It’s probably the most exciting thing to happen in a long time.”
He said the project was officially proposed in 2002.
And the governor said talk about it dates back at least a couple decades before that.
“That wait is over, and it’s just one more indicator that Illinois is no longer defined by its fiscal woes but by its determination to invest in its people,” Pritzker said.
The project was bid out about seven years ago during the administration of former Gov. Bruce Rauner, but the lone bid came in above cost estimates. The state rejected the bid and the project was stalled since then.
There was a palpable sense of relief on campus as the news came out about the release of funding for the project.
“There have been some pretty dark days where we thought we may never see this project come to fruition,” Clow said.
“It’s been so long since Western has seen a building funded by the state. We knew that if we didn’t push this building through, the chances of anything else coming down the road were going to be slim-to-none.”
Clow said if the money did not go to Western, it would have gone for a building project at some other public university in the state. That’s because the funding comes from the governor’s capital projects bill, meaning it can only be spent on new capital projects – the money cannot put toward other needs, such as deferred maintenance on campus.
Governor Pritzker said, “This facility will serve not only as a hub for the College of Fine Arts and Communication, but also as a cultural and performing arts destination for the campus community, for the city of Macomb, and for the entire western Illinois region.”
Two students who will benefit from the CPA spoke during the groundbreaking ceremony. One of them, Theatre major Jaekwon Watkins said, “Thank you for believing in us -- the students, the faculty, everybody that’s involved in Western.”
Former WIU President Al Goldfarb participated in Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony. He also participated in the ceremony in 2011.
“I always believed it (this day) would come, but my worry was how long it was taking,” said Goldfarb. “It’s now become a reality and I’m ecstatic about it.”
He said he had full confidence in Clow, who was one of Goldfarb’s students years ago at Illinois State University.
Goldfarb said he is looking forward to coming back to Macomb for the building’s grand opening in 2024.
What the CPA will look like
The building design has undergone quite a few changes through the years, though the centerpiece remains the main hall, which Clow said will be a great proscenium theater.
“This hall is going to be truly state-of-the-art. It’s going to be a beautiful piece,” he said.
Clow said it will be a flexible space that can house large groups, regional and national touring groups, orchestras, and large ensembles.
The theater will seat close to 900 people and will have a single balcony.
A second, smaller theater will seat 100 to 200 people and can be set up for in-the-round, black box, or whatever configuration is needed.
In addition, the CPA will have a brand new, soundproof jazz studio classroom, which Clow said Western has never had. He said this is the type of thing a professional program needs.
The building will also include classrooms, studios, and performance spaces. But to help reduce the project’s price tag, they removed items such as new offices for administrators, including for Clow.
He said a new office would have been lovely, but added, “I don’t need a new office. I need spaces for my students to be in where they can learn and can have the best opportunity for graduation and beyond.”
Clow said it will be a LEED Silver certified building.
The investment
Clow said the state’s investment shows that Western is here to stay. He noted the 125th anniversary of the legislature passing a bill to establish the university is coming up in two years.
“And we’re going to hopefully be done (building the CPA) by then. This project is about 710 days from when it starts. So, depending on when it starts, we’ll be done and ready to go sometime in the fall of 2024, theoretically,” he said, adding, “Not that I’ve counted days or anything like that.”
The project will also give a big boost to the region’s economy.
“There’s a lot of construction workers that are going to be here working on the project that’s 700 days long. They’re going to have to have places to stay, they’re going to go out to eat, they’re going to do laundry, they’re going to be all over town, buying gas. All of these things are a benefit to the community and to Western,” Clow said.
He said the College of Fine Arts and Communication is currently spread out over eight or nine buildings on campus. There are dance studios here, rehearsal rooms there, perhaps a theater in a third building.
But once all those programs are moved into the CPA, space will be freed up for programs in the other buildings for other colleges and departments.
Clow said this means the Center for Performing Arts will have a campus-wide effect.
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