Big Plans

In the spring of 1965, Chicago architect Harry Weese, who had also designed the Watzek Sports Center, submitted detailed blueprints to the college for a massive $3 million complex that would have housed the theatre and visual arts departments.

Picture a four-story structure overlooking Reed canyon where Vollum now stands. The building’s two matching wings would have met at a circular center—a 1,200-seat proscenium theater with multiple balconies, towering fly lofts, and roomy wings. The plans included space for an experimental theatre; a large lecture hall; art and theatre libraries; studios for calligraphy, sculpture, and ceramics; a radio station—the list goes on.