Design Approved for $19M University of Michigan Dance Building in Ann Arbor

The University of Michigan Board of Regents has approved plans for a $19-million building for the Department of Dance at the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance — its first dedicated facility on the Ann Arbor campus in 110 years.
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U-M dance building
The U-M Board of Regents approved plans for a $19-million building for the dance department. // Rendering courtesy of the University of Michigan

The University of Michigan Board of Regents has approved plans for a $19-million building for the Department of Dance at the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance — its first dedicated facility on the Ann Arbor campus in 110 years.

The project will expand the dance department with the construction of a new 24,000-square-foot space on North Campus, which more than doubles the square footage of the existing space used by the department. It will include a performance venue with seating for 100 people, dance studios and locker rooms, as well as administrative space.

The new building also will contain four large studio-classroom spaces that will accommodate approximately 76 dance majors and more than 800 other students who utilize its studios each year.

“This new studio will provide a state-of-the-art teaching environment, complete with technology that has become standard in the teaching and choreographing of dance, such as computers, video cameras, and monitors,” says David Gier, dean of U-M’s School of Music, Theater, and Dance. “It is an investment in our current faculty and students, and will enhance recruitment of the most talented dancers, teachers, and scholars of dance in the country.”

The project will be funded by gifts to the school, its resources, and investment proceeds.

Bloomfield Hills architectural firm TMP Architecture Inc. designed the project, which is expected to provide an average of 27 on-site construction jobs. Construction is expected to be completed in spring 2021.

The board of regents also authorized issuing bids and awarding construction contracts for the project.