The University of Maryland, Baltimore County plans to ask the state for $37.4 million at the 2012 General Assembly session so it can break ground this summer on the second phase of the school’s performing arts and humanities building.
The $165 million facility will be the Catonsville school’s largest building to date.
The building is being designed and constructed in two phases. The first phase will open July 1 and includes performing spaces, scene shops, and academic rooms for the department of theatre and classroom spaces and offices for the English department. It
broke ground in 2010.
With the funding
UMBC hopes to receive from the General Assembly, the university hopes to break ground of the second phase and complete it by summer of 2014.
UMBC hopes the construction of the building will raise the profile of the arts and humanities programs on campus.
"We do want people to know that we have vibrant arts and humanities programs at UMBC even though we might be better known for our programs in the sciences," says UMBC’s Director of Arts Management Thomas Moore.
The current facilities at UMBC are not up to standards for the arts and also make student-professor interaction difficult in the humanities since certain faculty members have to share offices, Moore says.
Some of the highlights of the building include a 350-seat concert hall, a 275-seat theatre, as well as dance and recording studios.
Many high-tech additions will be made to classrooms to make learning more interactive and to improve the learning environment. The building is also on track for LEED certification, Moore says.
The school enrolled more than 13,000 arts and humanities students in the fall.
Writer: Alexandra Wilding
Source: Thomas Moore, UMBC