In the spring of 1959 drama professors Jean Collette and Edmund Chavez began drawing up plans for a new university theater, but it was not until 1966 that a building committee was formed. The committee, which met for two years, was chaired by Boyd Martin, Dean of Letters and Science; Edmund Chavez was secretary.
This would be the first building on the campus not funded by the state. On September 27, 1967, President Ernest Hartung and the Alumni Association launched a campaign to raise nearly $2,000,000 for the center.
A contract was signed with the architectural firm of C.J. Bellamy & Co. of Coeur d'Alene on July 17, 1972, and construction started soon after. A year and a half later, in December 1973, phase one of the proposed three part complex was completed. The finishing touches and final repairs and clean up took the first part of the new year. On April 17 the theater opened with a performance of Lawrence and Lee's play "Jabberwock". The following night "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck, was performed.
The formal dedication took place on the morning of April 20, 1974.
From the guide to the Fund for the Performing Arts Center Papers, 1959-1976, (University of Idaho Library Special Collections and Archives)
