Construction on a new Center for Performing Arts and renovation of Decker Auditorium broke ground in the fall. The former student services building is also undergoing a makeover to become the new Art and Technology Building.

Center for Performing Arts

Last spring was the final curtain call for Iowa Central Community College’s Decker Auditorium.

The 50-year-old building is currently undergoing a complete facelift, along with the construction of a new Center for Performing Arts. This is the first time since it was built in 1978 that the 1,200-seat Decker Auditorium will undergo any significant upgrades.

-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla
The former student services building is undergoing a transformation into the new Art & Technology Building. The makeover includes a new all-glass front entrance.

The college’s Board of Trustees approved a bid from Sioux City-based Klinger Construction for $11,907,000 during a special meeting on July 25. The project was designed by the Des Moines architecture firm OPN Architects.

The need for updates to the auditorium has been apparent for many years, said Dr. Jesse Ulrich, Iowa Central president. It was part of the 2018 bond referendum, with $3 million earmarked for the project.

“The ultimate goal is not to just update Decker Auditorium,” said Ulrich. “The goal of this is to truly create a better student experience within the fine arts by creating a Center for Performing Arts that culminates in a lot of different areas and updates that (Decker) Hall into a new age.”

There is a laundry list of problems the current facility has, including lack of handicap accessibility backstage, as well as a leaky roof and inadequate space for dressing rooms and set building, said Teresa Jackson, director of theater at Iowa Central.

“It’s time,” Jackson said. “She’s been a grand old dame, but she needs to go retire a beautiful facility.”

In the auditorium itself — which will be renamed Decker Hall — new stage lighting and sound equipment will be part of the upgrade.

“The lights are antiquated and the rigging system needs to be overhauled to make it current,” Jackson said. “We can’t even replace some of the lights we have because they don’t make them any more.”

In addition to completely renovating the auditorium with new seating, new lighting and a new sound system, this project will also construct a Center for Performing Arts, extending the building to the south. The center will have a new band room, theater room, expanded classroom spaces, a set shop and additional bathrooms. The whole space, including the auditorium, will be fully ADA accessible, something the current auditorium is not. ADA seating will be added, and there will be a ramp access to the stage. Currently, the stage is only accessible by steps.

The installation of an elevator will also add ADA accessibility to the second floor and balcony of the auditorium.

Another major update to the facility will be the addition of restrooms on both the first and second floors. Currently, visitors must go next door to Hodges Fieldhouse to use the restroom.

An entrance on the south side of the building will be built to be closer to additional parking.

“It’s not just the aesthetics of the auditorium itself, but all of the nitty gritty of putting on a production that will be improved,” Jackson said. “It’s just antiquated. I think my team has done such a good job of hiding all of our flaws, because we have talented students and we work really hard. We’re a really cohesive performance team, but it gets harder and harder.”

The state of the facility has also caused some problems with recruiting to the fine arts programs at the college, Jackson said. A lot of students are coming in from high schools that have newly renovated performance auditoriums and are seeing the poor shape of the aging Decker Auditorium.

Jackson said she thinks that the upgrades to Decker Hall and addition of the Performing Arts Center will also help bring in professional touring groups to perform shows throughout the year.

Iowa Central’s facility is the largest performance venue in the college’s service region, said Mary Ludwig, executive director of development and alumni. With the renovation and new construction, it has the potential to bring in visitors from all over northwest and north central Iowa.

Art and Technology Building

When student services and the college’s administrative offices moved over to the new Greehey Family Student Success Center in 2020, that left the former student services building empty and open for possibilities.

Now, the building — one of the original buildings of the college — is going through a makeover to become the Art and Technology Building.

The first change will be noticed as one walks up to the finished building.

“We gave it more of a modern entrance that also kind of ties in the building with all the other buildings that we’ve got on campus,” Ulrich said.

The new entrance, which has an all-glass front, will look similar to an art gallery, with large windows letting in natural light and giving passersby a peek at the art on display and the art being created by students.

“This will be a significant change to what that space was before,” Vice President of Operations Ryan Gruenberg said. “All that natural light coming in will be just amazing.”

Past the entrance will be the makerspace area, which will house the engineering and design programs, with 3D printers as well as large format printing options.

“This is going to be an area for them to be extremely creative and have fun,” Gruenberg said.

Large overhead doors allow the room to open up and join with the room behind it.

“A core value that we were looking for when we designed this is collaboration,” Ulrich said. “As you go through the building, you’ll notice the openness of the building to be able to collaborate and work on cross-curricular design activities.”

A new photo studio will give the photography students space to work with an abundance of natural light with its wall of windows, as well as serving as a multi-purpose space.

“So when we’re hosting small social gatherings or events, to be able to get our community and alumni back on campus, they’ll be able to look out those windows and see kids going back and forth across campus,” Ulrich said. “It’s going to be a great room.”

The updated building will also include a large ceramics classroom, a dark room for film photography students, traditional classrooms, faculty offices, the college’s IT staff and more.

The construction is expected to be complete by July, in time for the fall semester to begin in late August.

The renovations were designed by Allers Associates Architects, of Fort Dodge, and the construction work is being done by Jensen Builders.