Demolition begins on Missouri State's new performing arts complex

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Today marked another step toward the future of the performing arts at Missouri State University.

What is normally referred to on campus as the 'Art Annex' will be no more, paving the way for the "Judith Enyeart Reynolds Performing Arts Complex."

"In 2026, sometime late spring, or summer, we're going to have a very special dedication ceremony when the site becomes the new Judith Enyeart Reynolds Performing Arts Complex, and that is thanks to a very special gift from the C.W. Titus Foundation and Tim Reynolds," Brent Dunn, Executive Director of the Missouri State Foundation said. "Also to our friends in the General Assembly, because this was a match. We had to have this gift first, but our friends in the General Assembly matched this gift to make this project possible, and so we thank them."

Officials say that the donation gift from Tim Reynolds and the C.W. Titus Foundation was around $17.5 million.

Dunn says the idea for the complex came during a walk through the Arts Park, also named after Judith Reynolds.

"It was just a walk in the park when the idea for this project came up," said Dunn. "It was Shawn Wahl, the dean of the college, Tim Reynolds, and we were just taking a walk in the afternoon, actually looking at the John Goodman Amphitheater. The construction was in progress there, and that conversation and the little walk in the park ultimately turned into a big idea and boom, this project started."

Shawn Wahl, the Dean of the Reynolds College of Art, Social Sciences and Humanities says the new performing arts complex is 'Phase Three' of a performing arts overhaul that included the new Ellis Hall that opened in 2017 and the John Goodman Amphitheater that opened in 2022.

"Today we are celebrating phase three," Wahl said. "The complex will include new acting and dance studios, a modernized black box theater space, a new scene shop that will extend to the site of Craig Hall and overall significant renovation of Craig Hall and so much more."

MSU President Richard 'Biff' Williams says it's not the only construction project in the works.

"As of this morning, there's 212 construction projects that total $245 million in contracts. The momentum is definitely on our campus," Williams said.

At the end of the remarks, Williams addressed Reynolds and others' efforts to help push MSU into the future.

"On behalf of Missouri State University, I want to express my and our heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering dedication not only to Missouri State University but also to our students," Williams said.

Reynolds was brought on stage to speak shortly before the ceremonial demolition began.

"I'm really excited about what's going on here. I think this is just great, and I am the luckiest guy in the world that I have the ability to do these things and to make a difference," Reynolds said. 

The project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2026.