Construction Update
Setting the Stage
By Stephanie Nguyen-Preciado
The Performing Arts Center will unite music and theatre arts in a single state-of-the-art facility
Thanks to the 2014 voter-supported Measure J, Fullerton College is preparing to break ground on a 77,560 square-foot Performing Arts Center. With the latest in cutting-edge design, the $129 million complex will offer a 540-seat main stage theatre and specialized classrooms and studios for music and theatre arts programs.
A groundbreaking event is expected in early 2024 with a grand opening projected in late 2025.
“Fullerton College has some of the best community-college music and theatre programs in the country. The new Performing Arts Center will bring the quality of our facilities in line with the quality of our programs,” said Fine Arts Dean Grant Linsell. “Our students will have the opportunity to learn, rehearse, and perform in a facility which meets the needs of our exceptional programs.”
Designed by architect firm Pfeiffer Partners, Inc., the Performing Arts Center will replace Buildings 1100 and 1300, which currently house music and theatre arts, respectively. The center will provide state-of-the-art, accessible learning and performing spaces. A few of the highlights of the Performing Arts Center include:
- main theatre
- recital hall
- black box theatre
- 2 box offices
- 6 classrooms
- 23 practice rooms
- 23 offices
- 10 labs for recording, electronic music, listening, production media, costume studios, costume, scene shop, theatre lab, piano lab, choral lecture
- 8 multi-stall restrooms: 4 women’s and 4 men’s
- 6 gender-neutral restrooms: including a gender-inclusive restroom in each dressing room
Fullerton College offers one of the most diversified theatre and music curricula and ambitious production schedules of all of California’s community colleges. Currently, the Theatre Arts Department hosts four annual productions, while the Music Department hosts numerous concerts and recitals throughout the year. The Performing Arts Center will soon create a space reflective of the talent, creativity, and innovation of the Fine Arts Division. Students will be able to hone their craft with the latest available technology.
“The design process included input from the diverse constituencies served in our campus community and has resulted in plans that are both aesthetically pleasing and technically advanced, but which are also are fiscally responsible,” Linsell said. “The new Performing Arts Complex will allow our students and faculty to be the best versions of their artistic selves.”
Once the performing arts programs move into their new home, the demolition of Buildings 1100 and 1300 will create the space for a student welcome center, which will be a one-stop student services facility. Fullerton College’s radio station KBPK 90.1 FM will relocate to Building 700 to join fellow departments within the Technology and Engineering Division. The station’s new space will provide modern furniture and multiple studios for interviews and podcast recordings. The main studio will have room to host live performances, which isn’t possible in the current location.
The tentative Performing Arts Center completion timeline is late 2025 and is made possible through funding from Measure J and state capital outlay. Pending completion, the first set of classes in the Performing Arts Center will be in the spring 2026 semester.
Construction Projects Update
Take a walk through the Fullerton College campus to see numerous facility improvements and voter-approved Measure J construction projects
underway for the college’s 18,000 students. Several projects came to completion in 2022 and a few more are expected to be finished in 2023, including improvements to Sherbeck Field and accessibility improvements in the quad and surrounding Building 100.
In the fall of 2022, the campus community was excited for the grand opening of the Starbucks, which is located adjacent to the library, and celebrated the addition of 44 new EV charging ports at the student parking structure off of Lemon Street and Fullerton College Drive bringing the total to 50 EV charging ports.
These projects are in development:
Sherbeck Field Improvements
Sherbeck Field enhancements include permanent prefabricated aluminum bleachers, field and pedestrian lighting, a new sound system, press box, storage building, and fencing. The project is expected to be complete in spring 2023.
Building 300 Renovation
A renovation of Building 300 is under review with the Division of the State Architect (DSA). Historic preservation is key to this project. The building was built in 1936 and has intricate architectural features that will be persevered during the retrofit. DSA approval is anticipated in May 2023 and the project is expected to begin in November 2023 with a projected completion date in summer 2025.
Chapman Newell Building
Building and design architects BNBuilders, Inc. and Roesling Nakamura Terada Architects, Inc. have provided design renderings for this 30,000-square foot building which will be located at the intersection of Chapman Avenue and Newell Street. The building will house many of the college’s student services programs including Veteran’s Resource Center, a Student Wellness Center (student medical and behavioral health), food bank, EOPS, CalWORKs, CARE, Foster Youth Success Initiative, Umoja, and a multi-cultural center in addition to a couple of instructional classrooms, a storage room, breakroom, and lactation room. The project is expected to start in September 2023 with a targeted completion date in winter 2024.
Wilshire Chiller Plant Relocation
Due to its location in the footprint of the future Performing Arts Center, the demolition and relocation of the existing Chiller Plant and service yard are necessary. The current facilities deliver temperature control to the buildings in the vicinity, including the historic Wilshire Auditorium and NOCE’s Wilshire Center. The new facility will provide the same service to the current buildings in addition to the new Performing Arts Center. The relocation of the infrastructure will be done in coordination with the local utility, Southern California Edison (SCE). The project is set to begin in November 2023.
Maintenance & Operations Building
The new Maintenance and Operations (M&O) Building will centralize all services into a single building located on the main campus. The building will include trade-specific workshops for maintenance, grounds, facilities, and custodial personnel while improving response time and efficiencies by locating the building on the main campus adjacent to the central plant. Bringing these services to the main campus will minimize the number of crossings that are needed at the busy intersection of Berkeley Avenue and Lemon Street. The project is under DSA review and expected to begin in the fall of 2023.