Cal State San Bernardino to get new Performing Arts Center

A new Performing Arts Center is making its way to the Cal State San Bernardino campus, with a groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 7, at 11 a.m. on the John M. Pfau Library lawn.

The new 73,337 square-foot Performing Arts Center will have a 500-seat theater and music instruction space, and will be located south of the existing Performing Arts Building. The $126 million construction project is scheduled to open during the 2024-25 academic year.

The center will provide modern teaching, rehearsal and performance spaces necessary for a modern performing arts program. The project’s architect is the Los Angeles office of HGA Architects, and the general contractor is the Los Angeles office of Rudolph and Sletten.

The Performing Arts Center is the first new state-funded academic building on campus under CSUSB’s current master plan. In September 2017, the CSU Board of Trustees approved the updated CSUSB physical campus master plan with an enrollment ceiling increase from 20,000 to 25,000 full-time equivalent students. This change recognized the increasing demand for higher education in the Inland Empire, the fastest growing region in the nation according to the 2010 U.S. census.