MEDIA RELEASE
Imagination Becomes Reality as CSUN Breaks Ground
for New Valley Performing Arts Center on April 30
(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., April 24, 2008) — Imagination will become reality on Wednesday, April 30, as university and community leaders break ground on the new Valley Performing Arts Center at California State University, Northridge.
The groundbreaking celebration will take place at 6 p.m. at the site of the new center at the southern end of the campus on Nordhoff Street near Etiwanda Avenue.
Joining the festivities will be director/actor Garry Marshall, who will serve as the evening’s master of ceremonies, as well such San Fernando Valley dignitaries as civic activist David Fleming and Los Angeles City Council members Wendy Greuel and Tony Cardenas.
"For the nearly two million people who live in the San Fernando Valley, performing arts productions, including music, dance and Broadway-caliber productions featuring prominent national and international artists, will soon be available just minutes away," said CSUN President Jolene Koester. "The groundbreaking on April 30 is the first step. The first curtain will rise in just two years and provide to the community a new level of entertainment and cultural programming that previously was difficult for students and residents to enjoy locally. Best of all, our outstanding students and faculty will benefit from the stages, lecture halls, rehearsal areas and special stagecraft and costume labs that will be located in what will be the largest venue of its kind in the Valley."
Work has already begun on the foundation of the 1,700-seat, $125 million performing arts center. Construction is expected to be completed by 2010.
Designed by Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. (HGA), the new center will serve as a cultural and economic landmark for the San Fernando Valley. It will include sophisticated features such as the ability to acoustically tune its main performance hall to fit particular presentations, whether they are music, dance, theater, films or speakers. The performance hall also will be large enough to accommodate full-scale Broadway productions and operas, opening the Valley to such shows for the first time.
Adding to the center’s cultural offerings is a formal agreement the university has with the Music Center – Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County to explore joint programming and other collaborations at the new facility. The Music Center, one of the three largest performing arts centers in the nation, draws about 1.3 million people annually to performances at its four major downtown venues.
Upon its opening, the Valley Performing Arts Center will be the largest arts venue in the area. It also will serve as a major arts education center for local students and the community.
(April 30, 2008 Daily News article about the Valley Performing Arts Center)