Back to News 
MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (April 26, 2005) — Milligan College’s Board of Trustees approved plans last week to build a 24,000 square foot convocation center at the college. The center will house a 350-seat theatre for the college’s celebrated theatre arts program. College leaders expect to break ground on the new facility sometime in early 2006.
The college’s theatre program has earned regional and national acclaim. Its productions have been featured at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival and area partnerships have included the Jonesborough Repertory Theatre, the Barter Theatre, and the East Tennessee State University theatre department. In the past 18 years, the Milligan College Theatre for Young Audiences has toured area schools, performing original productions for more than 175,000 children in our region.
“The arts play a major role in the liberal arts education to which Milligan is committed,” said Milligan President Don Jeanes . “We’re excited about this new facility and know that it will further advance our theatre program and serve the entire campus.”
The new facility will include a 350-seat theatre auditorium and the necessary backstage support, staging, a workshop for theatre classes, and darkrooms for photography students. As a convocation center, the auditorium also will be used for the college’s Humanities program, academic lecture series, and various campus community events.
“Milligan not only believes in the art of the spoken and written word, but this area truly represents the vibrancy and spirit of the college itself,” said theatre director and area chair Richard Major. “This will be a very functional facility for our campus and will serve many needs.”
Detailed plans for the site and the building will be finalized in the coming months. The facility will be located near the newly established Mary Sword Commons, across the street from the Welshimer Library. College officials said site preparation may begin as early as this summer, with a groundbreaking sometime in early 2006. Construction will take a total of 18 to 24 months.
The center will be funded through a combination of gift income and financing, explained Jeanes. The college has received $4.5 million in lead gifts toward the project as part of the Milligan College Campaign for Christian Leadership. Total project costs are estimated to be as much as $6 million. The college will continue to pursue additional gifts before determining the amount of financing ultimately needed, explained Jeanes.
The convocation center is the college’s highest building priority and the next step in a multi-phase central campus project, which includes additional phases of a campus center facility to be added adjacent to the new theatre building.
“This is an exciting time for Milligan and an important moment in our Campaign for Christian Leadership,” said Jeanes. “Our entire region truly benefits from the arts at Milligan.”