Western Connecticut State University in Danbury recently completed construction on a $97 million building for its School of Visual and Performing Arts.
The 135,000-square-foot facility, slated to open in September, is complete with a 350-seat concert hall and theater that contains two balcony rings, dressing and practice rooms, galleries and several studios for recording, painting and sculpting. More than $1 million was invested in audio and video equipment. The lobby includes hanging LED (light-emitting diode) lights as well as touch-screen and big-screen TVs.
The vision of the project was to provide more resources and opportunities for students to be equipped with the right tools and technology to prepare them for careers in the arts, said Dan Goble, third-year dean at the arts school.
“Fairfield County and Connecticut are huge drivers of businesses with 4 to 5 percent of the total number of businesses in Connecticut being arts-related,” Goble said. “There are 13,000 arts-related businesses in Connecticut, and we”™re the ones to help fill those jobs and raise future entrepreneurs by teaching kids how to play music and draw in school.”
