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A Lincoln Trail College project that has been in the works for the last three years took a major step forward after the Illinois Eastern Community Colleges Board of Trustees approved the bid for the Theater Renaissance Project. The addition to the Zwermann Arts Center will add a new choral room that doubles as a mid-sized lecture hall along with additional practice rooms, and office and storage spaces.
“We're going to be breaking ground for the first time on brick and mortar construction at the college since 1975,” says IECC Chancellor Dr. Ryan Gower, who was the President at LTC when planning for the project began. “It's a small project in terms of size. It's only a 3,600 square-foot addition, but the significance is more than the square footage of that building. The significance is Lincoln Trail College is growing again. We're thinking for the future. We're thinking about how we're going to serve students with our facilities. That's exciting to me.”
One of the key features of the Theater Renaissance Project is the addition of the new choral room. Music instructor Rebecca Carmack says the choral room that they’re using now is not the best facility for choirs and ensembles. It is also shared with the theater during productions.
“I feel like our department really serves the community in a way that's very special and unique. And so, if we don't have the resources that we need we can't serve the community. We certainly can't serve our students in the way that we want to. So, the addition of a choral room is very exciting for me. This new space will also serve multiple purposes but is going to be set up in a way that we can actually use it for all of those purposes. We'll never have to move chairs around between a class and a rehearsal. It is all set up there with tiered seating in the way that we like for our choirs and our instrumental ensembles as well. And it can serve the classroom setting as well.”
Barb Shimer has had a long relationship with the LTC Theater and was part of the steering committee for the Theater Renaissance Project. Shimer now serves on the IECC Board of Trustees. She first started in the performing arts at LTC as a student and has continued to participate in various choirs, ensembles, and productions throughout her life. Shimer says the project will benefit the theater side of the performing arts department because they will be able to better use the space for building and storing sets. She says it will also provide a better balance for the department while productions are online. Shimer believes this will also be a great addition to the community.
“Besides having places where the community choir can meet, we can also have a camp in the summer for high school kids. We have so many different ideas. Not only can music groups use it, but community groups can also use it. It allows for a great use of the theater because the theater is a community resource. Different companies have their annual meetings there and training meetings there. We want to make that available, and by having an overflow facility we can now make that available without canceling classes. So, it does become a true community resource.”
One of the ways the Zwermann Arts Center Theater has served the community is through the Lincoln Trail College Foundation’s Concert Series. Rod Harmon is the Foundation’s Executive Director. He says through the course of the series, about 20,000 people have seen the concerts, which help raise money for scholarships for LTC students.
“There are a lot of activities at the theater and it is very important. Dr. Gower always wanted the hub of the community activities to be at the college and the college to be the center of those activities. The hub of the college then runs through the Zwermann Theater. So, the significance of theater and what we're doing is so, so important.”
The Theater Renaissance Project is one of several big changes happening at Lincoln Trail College. Work is underway on the soccer fields at Statesmen Park, which was an 11-acre expansion of the campus. It will include two soccer fields and eventually a softball diamond. Earlier this summer, it was announced that LTC is receiving $8,370,000 from the State of Illinois for the construction of a Technology Center which will house technical programs like Process Technology, Construction Technology, Welding, Broadband Telecommunications, and Computer Security and Forensics as well as LTC’s new University Partnership Center that will allow students to earn degrees from select four-year colleges without having to leave home. Another project slated for the campus is the Crawford County Recreation Center, which is being headed by a local not-for-profit group that is raising private funds for the new building. That facility will include a fitness center, multipurpose rooms that can be used for fitness classes, and an indoor walking track. Renovations for the indoor pool at LTC are also planned.
All of the money for the Theater Renaissance Project has been privately raised and the LTC Foundation is a large contributor to the project. “One of the things I like to tell people is that gifts and contributions to Lincoln Trail College are significant,” says Gower. “So often when you contribute to a college or a university you feel like it's a drop in the bucket, and people wonder if their donations actually make a difference. When you're working with a smaller college like Lincoln Trail, even small contributions go a long way. This Theater Renaissance Project is funded almost 100 percent through private gifts. As they always do, the leadership of our Foundation stepped up and filled in the gap and donated the final $308,800 needed to allow us to break ground on this project.”
Work on the Theater Renaissance Project should begin this fall and the project is expected to be completed within nine months.
