• Valdosta State University is investing $36.5 million in a new performing arts center.
• The center will be a 43,128 square foot facility for VSU’s theater and dance departments.
• Its opening is scheduled for spring 2026.
• Watch the video to see how the center aims to revitalize a neglected area of ​​Valdosta

Broadcast transcript:

A new performing arts center is coming to Azalea City, thanks to Valdosta State University’s $36.5 million investment.

“We are in a 50-year-old building and that will give us many more opportunities to bring technical theater, new innovations…”

I’m Malia Thomas, your neighborhood reporter in Valdosta, and I see what a space like this will do for our neighborhoods.

Hank Ryan is the artistic director of our Peach State Summer Theater. He has been on our art scene for over 30 years.

“I did my undergraduate work here. I worked in 1991 at the Jekyll Island Musical Theater Festival, which was the Peach State Summer Theater, and then I directed over the years.”

He tells me that VSU’s current campus facilities are older, making it more difficult to teach artists and host multiple community events. Not only is he looking forward to using the new center, but he’s also looking forward to showing it off to visitors.

“It’s not only going to be a good fit for our local audience, but also outreach out of state as far as possible. I think it’s going to be a destination to bring people to Valdosta.”

And this reach will be far. The Performing Arts Center will be a 43,128 square foot facility designed to meet the needs of VSU’s theater and dance departments. With more space, more shows, and more shows, more visitors from across the region. In the works since 2015, Blake Pearce, executive director of special projects for VSU Academic Affairs, says the site will serve the dual purpose of revitalizing a previously demolished area.

“You see this lot in an abandoned facility where we’ve been here for over a decade, even the empty lot from the last couple of years, they’re going to be excited.”

The center is scheduled to open in spring 2026. In Valdosta, I’m Malia Thomas, reporting for ABC27.