History of the Davis SJ Performing Arts Center
The Royden B. Davis S.J. Performing Arts Center is the product of many years of dreaming, work and planning. In one of its earliest conceptions, more than 20 years ago, the Center would have been located in the Leavey Building as a venue showcasing touring productions, with an audience capacity of more than 1000. Geographic constraints, environmental factors, fundraising challenges, and the need to preserve neighborhood relations diminished that initiative. Later a multi-complex Theater Center was imagined, inspired by faculty and staff input from a range of departments across the university. In another iteration, a Performance Arts Center designed to accommodate Theater and Music equally was explored; however when architects clarified that both arts would be compromised, gaining acceptable but not outstanding facilities, Georgetown insisted on excellence. Thus the focus on a Performing Arts Center dedicated to Theater Performance was fully embraced, endorsed by dozens of faculty from varied departments, years of intention, and generous donors.
When the University President, Provost and College Dean gave final approval to the construction of the Performing Arts Center, a $28 million dollar project, they agreed that the first priorities in it were research and learning in and through theater performance, linked to the growth of degree programs. With engaged philanthropy from the Gonda Family Foundation as seed money--following their son Eli Gonda's desire for greater artistic education at his alma mater--, and lead funding by MBNA for the development of a Performing Arts Center in the heart of Georgetown's campus in honor of Father Davis, the Royden B. Davis SJ Performing Arts Center was born.
This ambitious project truly built from the extended Georgetown family's investment in students and the future. Father O'Donovan, then president, and Father Lawton, then dean of the College, made the Center a priority in the Third Century Campaign. Liz Prelinger and Alison Hilton, both of the Department of Art, Music and Theater, gave the project life for donors in the early days of the project. Much of the capital campaign for the Davis Center was shepherded by Dean Jane McAuliffe, a visionary leader committed to strengthening research and student learning within the College; she was joined by the Office of Alumni and University Relations (OAUR), and members of the faculty and staff in moving toward a better future for Theater and Performing Arts at Georgetown.
The site chosen for this new academic building was the former Ryan Administration building‹and former Ryan Gym‹at the center of campus. The architectural firm Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (HHPA) carefully designed a space to match the aims, scale and values of the College. Visually and programmatically fitting the scale of its location, the Davis Center fills the longtime need for additional space for performing arts classes and production: As many alumni, students and faculty have noted, for more than a decade Walsh Black Box, Poulton Hall, and Village C Performing Arts Classroom had been unable to support the high density of theatrical learning and co-curricular production on campus.
Dean Jane McAuliffe, former Provost Dorothy Brown, Project Consultant Lee Allen, Vice President Karen Frank, Project Manager Steve Lamp, former Professor Rob Baker-White, and Senior Vice President Spiros Dimolitsas helped to win local neighborhood and DC commmissions' support for the project. The official groundbreaking was hosted in September 2003. For that event, dozens of donors, students, faculty, alumni, and friends joined Georgetown President Jack DeGioia, Dean Jane McAuliffe, MBNA Representatives, the Gonda Family, OAUR, Department of Art, Music and Theater Chair Alison Hilton, and Director of Theater Maya Roth for a celebration of the beginning of construction.
The Davis Performing Arts Center is the first new academic building on the main Georgetown campus in 20 years, and the first space in Geogetown's 125 year history originally designed to support theater production. Georgetown lovers of theater, rejoice!
