POTSDAM -- The State University of New York at Potsdam will celebrate the groundbreaking for its $41 million Performing Arts Building Friday, April 29 at 3:30 p.m.

Government and college officials will be on hand, along with members of the architectural and engineering firms that are working on the project.

This is the first new academic building to be built on the SUNY Potsdam campus since 1973. The Performing Arts Building will feature 97,000 square feet of theater and dance space, supporting the college's Department of Theatre and Dance.

College President John Schwaller said that in addition to employing workers during construction, "the Performing Arts Building -- located adjacent to The Crane School of Music -- will help create an arts village on our campus. This facility will offer students cutting-edge technology and serve as an arts showcase for the entire community."

The new complex will offer several performance spaces, including a 350-seat proscenium theater, a 200-seat black-box theater, and a 200-seat dance performance hall.

A description from the college says that a "light-infused lobby with its adjacent café will serve as an 'arts avenue' displaying student works, while providing a variety of seating areas for socializing and collaborating. In addition, the arts avenue will double as a special events space and reception area, providing space for pre-performance and intermission activities. The lobby will also provide students with a convenient weather-protected connection from the building's southeast entry to The Crane School of Music at Bishop Hall."

The building will have education, digital, audio, design, drafting and lighting laboratories, movement studios for dance and theater, a recording studio, scene shop and costume shop.

"This facility will allow the Department of Theatre and Dance to do things we've only dreamed of until now, including aerial dancing and use of multimedia in performance," said Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance Kimberly Bouchard.

The design of the Performing Arts Building will meet the requirements necessary to achieve a minimum of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design's (LEED) Silver certification.

To learn more visit www.potsdam.edu/about/artscampus/performingartsbuilding.