Organizers of a proposed community performing arts venue for downtown State College are continuing planning for the project, though the site where they hope to build it likely won’t be available for another decade.
Representatives of the nonprofit Nittany Performing Arts Centre provided an update to State College Borough Council on Monday about the current state of planning and what’s next for the project.
In 2022, NPAC unveiled a conceptual plan for a six-level building that would provide performance, rehearsal and educational spaces for myriad local performing arts groups on the site of the current Pugh Street Parking Garage, which at more than a half-century old is nearing the end of its useful life and which at the time the borough expected to be decommissioned within a few years.
Rob Levash of Wilson Butler Architects, which specializes in designing performing arts venues and has worked with NPAC for five years, said in “the best-case scenario” the 268,000-gross-square-foot center would be ready to open in 2029.
If it does open in 2029, it probably won’t be on the Pugh Street garage site. Council informally agreed a week ago to move forward with a plan that will maintain the Pugh garage for another 10 years. The McAllister Street Parking Deck, meanwhile, would be maintained for eight years before it is torn down and a replacement garage for both structures is built on that site.
The borough has not reached any agreements or made a decision on how the Pugh Street property will be used once the garage is demolished.
Levash did not directly answer a question from council President Evan Myers about how that longer timeline would affect NPAC’s plans, but said whenever or wherever it would open, it would be a boon to the downtown.
“What’s special about this building is that it brings a lot of programming together,” Levash said. “It’s doing a lot in one building and I think it benefits downtown hugely. It’s a huge economic driver for downtown, whether it’s at this spot or another spot.”
Where it could be built if not the Pugh Street site is uncertain. Levash and Borough Manager Tom Fountaine said 10 sites were evaluated before landing on the proposed location. In addition to Pugh Street, three of those were in or near downtown, which organizers say is a critical component of the project.
One — the former Allen Street parking lot — is now being used for construction of the State College Town Centre development. Another was the U.S. Post Office on South Fraser Street, and borough officials have said in the past that the Postal Service has not shown any interest in selling the property. The third was the former Fairmount Street School, which the State College Area School District has not decided what to do with in the future.
Plans, Cost and Fundraising
The total estimated cost for the project is $135.8 million, a figure presented publicly for the first time on Monday night.
That project total includes $100 million for the performing arts center itself, which is planned to include an 800-seat multipurpose theater, a 200-seat flexible theater multiple studio and education spaces for dance, drama and music and lobby spaces with bars that can showcase visual art.
“This is the living room for downtown State College, so the visual arts could put their arts in the lobby and energize those spaces,” Levash said.
He added that the design of the building, with extensive use of glass, particularly on the Beaver Avenue side, to invite the community in to see what’s happening inside.
“What we’re really trying to do is create a beacon here,” he said. “… We want to bring the arts to the downtown area.”
An attached 350-space garage is estimated at $20 million. Levash said his “train of thought” is that the garage would be available for public use, not only for the center.
Council member Matt Herndon suggested the center’s garage could reduce what the borough needs to build as a replacement for the Pugh garage and McAllister deck, though Fountaine cautioned that much about the future of a new borough parking structure still needs to be determined.
Cost estimates also include $650,000 for two retail spaces totaling 3,400 square feet along Beaver Avenue and $14.7 million for upper level meeting and function space and a rooftop terrace with a bar, catering kitchen and scenic view of Penn State’s Old Main.
Revenues from the function spaces, rooftop terrace and storefronts would provide a subsidy that keeps the costs of using the performance spaces and tickets lower, NPAC Board of Directors President James Latten said.
A programming and operational study conducted by Webb Management estimated the center would draw 80,000 people in its first year, with an increase of 16% in the first five years.
Development of the project has three tracks, two of which — business planning and operations and design and construction planning — have made substantial progress. Now NPAC is turning its attention to the third: fundraising.
A request for proposals for a fundraising consultant was issued on July 1 and the group was scheduled to interview four firms on Tuesday. A feasibility study from the selected firm is expected to be delivered in January.
Sean Devine, who was recently hired as NPAC’s executive director, said the networking capabilities of the various performing arts groups involved and the support for the project have been impressive. It’s also received support from the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County and State College Redevelopment Authority.
“As a lifelong musician and also someone that’s been involved in nonprofit fundraising for 20 years, I never seen anything like it, the reach and the networking that NPAC has,” Devine said. “I believe in this and I believe it’s unique.”
NPAC says the center will “showcase local artists in central high-visibility venue; establish a hub for innovative arts education; partner with local government to activate public life; and
strengthen connections with educational institutions,” namely Penn State.
Organizers said they hope to have the university as a partner on the project in some way.
“I don’t think this project happens without Penn State. In our pro forma and business operations, we’re hoping Penn State gets involved and uses it for some of its performances…,” Levash said. “There’s energy down here. The hope is this will bring even more energy down here. It will not only bring people back into downtown, but we’re hoping to also feed off the university as well.”
Devine and Latten are meeting with Penn State College of Arts and Architecture leaders about the project and opportunities for university performances as well as students studying the technical side of theater.
“We’re both swimming in the pool right now trying to decide what we as entities and partners can do,” Latten said.
Emerging From Transition
Devine’s start as executive director and the planned hiring of a fundraising consultant mark NPAC’s emergence from a period of transition following the death of its visionary founder, Douglas Meyer, in April 2024.
It was Meyer, the longtime conductor of the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra, who began meeting with leaders of other community performing arts organization in 2016 to discuss the need for a local venue that could accommodate their rehearsals and performances. Their weekly meetings evolved into NPAC, with a mission “to create a performing arts center, easily accessible for audiences in Centre County, with optimal acoustics and an exhilarating atmosphere,” one that would serve as a performance and education venue for the community’s music, dance and theater organizations.
“He was a great connector for all of these community organizations,” Levash said. “Doug was really the champion of this project. He was a great man.”
For community organizations, venues such as those at Penn State are difficult to book, while other facilities in the area might be too big, too small or lacking features needed for a symphony or complex theatrical production.
NPAC is designed with all of that in mind, and as the project has continued to develop, more and more community organizations have joined in as partners.
“This is a place for the State College community arts groups,” Devine said. “What really brought us together is the lack of these spaces for rehearsals and performances. We know there are more groups out there. We’re hoping that the commonality that we’re finding in theses challenges will continue to bring more groups to us and we’ll add those groups to this list. No one’s going to be turned away and we’re hoping that group will continue to grow.”
The theater, Levash said, will have “everything it would need for the best orchestras to come and play here, but he noted the venue is first and foremost “community-driven,” and that there will be high demand for use.
“It is a complicated project because there’s a lot of players, but I’ve always believed in this project for five years because I think it’s special, because of the intricacies here and how many
Devine said providing affordable access is the goal.
“The word accessible in our mission statement speaks to the community groups to get to the stage and it speaks to our community members to get to the seats,” he said.
There’s still a long road ahead before that accessible venue becomes a reality and many questions to be answered. For example, if the borough does OK the plan for the Pugh site, what will be the agreement? Levash said for similar projects, some municipalities have offered a 99-year lease to the nonprofit organization.
Several council members and Mayor Ezra Nanes, though, said they are impressed with what NPAC has presented for the project.
“You all kind of won me over a while ago because the vision is so powerful,” Nanes said. “I think the thing that really got me is that this came from community need. This wasn’t an idea looking for a need. It was a need that grew into something. That’s what sold me on the concept.”
