Two years after the start of remodeling the America First Performing Arts Center, previously known as the Cox Performing Arts Center, the Utah Tech University community can expect to see a reopening in the 2026 fall semester.
The America First Performing Arts Center is in the final stages of renovation. The building, once completed, will have:
- An additional 10 thousand square feet of space
- A second floor rehearsal space and banquet hall
- Improved acoustics and new technology for enhanced performances
- Increased seating, including new layout with center aisles
- Bigger lobby space
The certification of occupancy of the building will be March 27, said Jon Gibb, director of facilities planning and construction. Gibb has been managing the remodel of the center. Departments will be able to move material into the center, allowing for performances to be in the fall.
Over the past two years, the Utah Tech art department has been performing in the Dolores Eccles Fine Arts Center. Once the remodel is complete, the different sections of the art department will be able to have more available space to perform again.
This will allow for more connection between faculty and staff, along with everything needed being in one place.
“It’s going to be a very elegant space that demands respect for the arts,” Gibb said.
Aside from the main added renovations, there will be added outdoor and indoor seating for before and after performances.
One main element that will enhance the center is improved acoustics and new technology.
Before the remodel, Jeff Jarvis, dean for the College of the Arts, said the auditorium felt “dead.” An acoustician was hired on-site to ensure that the space’s new acoustics would align with the performers and the audience. It has been enhanced to both electronic and acoustic instruments and sounds.
Jarvis explained that the newly added advancements are a space for students and performers to connect more with the audience. With the new additions, the performers will be more in tune with the sound of the art created.
“It’s warmer and richer, and it’s a whole different feeling,” Jarvis said.
The center will hold more than just student performances. Events like celebrity concerts, orchestras and other live performances will be held at the center. Jarvis said when the community comes to Utah Tech, they are supporting both the university and the culture that is built.
“Anytime you can get people who live here to come onto campus, you help [build] relationships,” Jarvis said.
Christy De La Cruz, a senior theater major from Las Vegas, has been attending Utah Tech since before the renovation. Though there have been challenges with every art section being in the Eccles for two years, she is excited to perform in the new center.
De La Cruz said: “I’m relieved in a sense that we have a space [to perform]. We are on campus and a part of something.”
Though there is no official reopening date for the America First Performing Arts Center, the Utah Tech community can anticipate performances to happen in the upcoming fall semester.
“Now you get a space that invites people. [This space] calls to them, ‘Come visit, come watch, come participate in the arts.’ That is what is going to draw people in.” Jarvis said.
