A Performing Arts Center at Auburn University (2008)

Over the past years, John Mouton, Senior Advisor to the President of Auburn University had received a variety of input on the construction of a performing arts complex. As of Spring 2008, existing facilities needed expansion and renovation; campus development had made community access difficult; and Auburn’s peers had relatively large, up-to-date performing arts facilities, as did arch-rival, University of Alabama. Though campus planning and construction were long-term endeavors theoretically outside economic cycles, construction of a performing arts center competed with every other project the university considered, and with the downturn, competition intensified. Executive Vice President Don Large acknowledged that Auburn had an obligation to provide and promote performing arts; and President Jay Gogue, knew first-hand the impact the arts could have on the well-being of a community. In the fall of 2007, President Gogue had solicited input from the university on key elements of a strat