Garrett College Community Education & Performing Arts Center

687 Mosser Road
McHenry, Maryland 21541

Situated at the entrance of the Garrett College campus, a new performing arts center (PAC) fulfills a decades-long vision for both the campus and the community. The new venue provides the community with the opportunity to continue to develop its arts culture and improve the life of the county in an impactful way. The PAC creates a sense of arrival, welcoming students, visitors, and community members. The design links the campus with the community, exposing arts activities to passersby via a large north-facing window in the multi-purpose room and a fully glazed lobby while also designing the building to be energy efficient. The PAC creates an environment for a technology-rich arts education while providing new revenue opportunities for the college.

The project scope includes adaptive re-use of an existing gymnasium and a 15,800 SF addition. The design orients a new 450-seat auditorium and stagehouse within the existing gymnasium's footprint, maintaining the structure's south portion for mechanical space and a piano lab. The addition includes a generously glazed lobby that acts as a new front door to the campus, basic theatrical back-of-house functions, patron amenities, and faculty offices. A key part of the new construction is a space for performances, recitals, rehearsals, conferences, special events, and conventional classroom functions. DLR Group provided architecture, interior design, mechanical and electrical engineering, audiovisual, IT, theater technical, acoustical design, and LEED consulting services.