Located at the crossroads of campus, the Blackwell Center for Performing Arts includes a large performance hall (Blackwell Auditorium) and a smaller black-box theater (Cobb Theatre). The Blackwell Center opened in 1961 and was partially renovated in 1987. Instead of building a new facility, the college chose to expand and renovate the existing building to provide dedicated performance and rehearsal spaces to the Drama department, Music department, and new Show Choir program. The new addition allows for a dedicated focus on teaching and learning in the arts, along with expanded performance space capacity.

The project consists of two separate scopes of work. The first involves the renovation of selected elements of the existing Blackwell Auditorium building to improve the quality and accessibility of the current auditorium and lobby. The second, a two-story addition to the existing building, houses a new flexible studio / Black Box theatre and support spaces, a Rehearsal Room, a Show Choir rehearsal room, and a Scene Shop. In addition, new teaching studios for music faculty and drama classrooms supply resources for the growing theater program on campus.