Construction on the Shinn Center will not begin for at least two months due to a storm drain in the building’s planned footprint that must be rerouted, Director of Campus Construction Mike Engelman told Lumination Network.
The University originally planned to break ground early last fall, according to a press release from June. Engelman estimated that the building will be completed in July 2019 at the earliest.
The release stated that event booking for the center “has already begun with an anticipated opening in the fall of 2018.”
University spokeswoman Kim Chaudoin said there are no events booked for the Center, despite the press release.
In an emailed statement to Lumination Network, Mike Fernandez, dean of the College of Entertainment and the Arts, said, “We had begun the process of creating a season of offerings.”
“We are still excited about these plans but have stretched booking dates to a more realistic opening timeline to accommodate the change in construction,” Fernandez wrote.
Engelman said the entire Ezell lot will be closed while the Shinn Center is built. It is unknown how the drain rerouting will affect parking. The current drain sits in front of the Ezell Center, right where the Shinn Center will be built.
Junior CEA student Christian Bean will graduate before the Center is completed. Regardless, he said he is excited for his younger classmates who will benefit from it.
“Some of our classrooms, right now, are overcrowded, so it is kind of needed,” Bean said. The film production major clarified that this wasn’t a “huge issue,” but that “as the film department grows, it’s going to really be needed.”
“We don’t have some of the facilities that would be nice to have,” Bean said.
The Shinn Center
The Center is financed by former NBA owner George Shinn’s $15 million gift to the University, the largest donation in school history.
It will house the George Shinn College of Entertainment and the Arts, plus studio and event space.
The event space will seat up to 1,000 people and will be used both by students and outside performers.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb University