PORTLAND BUSINESS JOURNAL NEWS ON SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY THEATRE BUILDING EXPANSION featured image

PORTLAND BUSINESS JOURNAL NEWS ON SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY THEATRE BUILDING EXPANSION

Jon Bell penned an article detailing the 60,000 square foot, TVA-designed expansion and renovation to Southern Oregon University’s Theatre Building and Jefferson Public Radio space.

By Jon Bell

Portland architects design Southern Oregon University’s $12.8M theater

The Portland architecture firm that conjured up the conceptual images for a proposed waterfront ballpark in the Rose City also designed an expanded and renovated theater building for Southern Oregon University in Ashland.

TVA Architects was the firm behind SOU’s $12.75 million project, which included the expanded theater building and a larger space for Jefferson Public Radio.

In a release, TVA principal design architect Robert Thompson said the goal was to lighten up a formerly dark space while also creating a lively and inviting gathering place.

“These types of buildings operate as living rooms or social centers for university campuses,” he said. “They are touchpoints where all students have the ability to come together, so they ought to be special in terms of their architecture, their engagement with the landscape and the buildings that surround them.”

The project, according to SOU, added about 60,000 square feet to the building, including a new costume shop, acting studios, a theater design studio, lighting lab and offices. The JPR studios and offices comprise about 7,000 of the new square feet.

TVA’s design tied the existing music building together with the expanded theater building through a public plaza, which has become “a hub for performing arts.”

Construction bonds funded $11.5 million of the project, while JPR donors ponied up another $1.25 million.

The university dedicated the new theater in November.