Elgin commission endorses plans to add new performing arts center
The Elgin Planning and Zoning Commission is recommending Elgin City Council approve plans to add a performing arts center to the St. Edward Central Catholic High School campus.
A 9,400-square-foot addition has been proposed for the 335 Locus St. school, funded with a $5 million donation from school alumni Geoff Fox and Robert Fox. When complete, it will be known as the Fox Family Performing Arts Center.
“This has been a long time coming for the school,” Steve Turckes, a representative for the Perkins and Will architectural firm, said at this week’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. “They have, for years and years since their campus was constructed, done their performances in the gym.”
The physical characteristics and acoustics of the gym space are inadequate for quality music and drama performances, Elgin Senior Planner Damir Latinovic said at the meeting. The new center will allow the high
school to keep pace with the demands of modern education, he said.
Proposed for the southwest corner of the building, the addition will have its own entrance, lobby, seating for 280, dressing rooms, and mechanical and electric support spaces, Latinovic said.
A small stormwater detention facility will need to be built west of the addition to meet city requirements and act as a buffer for neighbors, he said.
St. Edward’s needs city approval for a map amendment with code variances for the street yard setback, transition yard setback and transition landscape yard, according to city documents.
One neighbor submitted a letter of objection to
the plan, saying the school has never addressed existing parking or traffic issues, commission Chairman Jay Cox said.
St. Edward Principal Brian Tekampe said the school has tried to work with neighbors to resolve those issues and has asked students to move their cars when a neighbor raises a concerns.
The new performing arts center isn’t expected to generate additional parking issues because its capacity is smaller than the gym, school officials said. Additionally, St. Edward won’t hold sporting events at the same time as theater performances, Turckes said.