This weekend, the University of Dubuque will show-off the new campus landmark. A grand opening will be held for the 30 million dollar Heritage Center - the new performing arts and student center. The center's executive director, Tom Robins, says the space is almost evenly divided between student center and performing arts, but the rooms and facilities for both are mixed together.
"The philosophy of this whole project is what can we do to create arts by osmosis. So when you look at the fact that the Black Box Theater is straight across the hall from either student organization meeting rooms or across from the student cafe. There's also an art gallery."
Robins says one of the key features is the 1,000 seat theater - until now the University of Dubuque only had two chapels to use for shows.
"We're in the process of rebuilding an arts curriculum and majors in areas like music, theater, dance, and eventually the visual arts. So this building is an attempt to jump start that process."
The new center opened for a couple of campus events one month ago, so the Saturday night show is what he calls "opening night for the community." The Dubuque Symphony Orchestra will perform with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, from Ohio.