LEO-CEDARVILLE – The Leo Elementary gym was packed with students cheering on their friends last Monday during the school’s annual talent show.FORT WAYNE – The University of Saint Francis took possession Wednesday of the downtown Scottish Rite Center, renaming it the USF Performing Arts Center.
The university paid $1.3 million for the building at 431 W. Berry St., announcing the purchase in November. The 82,672-square-foot building includes a 2,018-seat auditorium, meeting rooms, a ballroom, offices and lounges, the university said in a statement.
The building will house Saint Francis’ new Media Entrepreneurship Training in the Arts – or META – program and also will be available for public bookings.
University officials said several existing media arts programs will shift to the new center. The university’s statement said the school also is considering adding new facilities for instructional multimedia performance, documentary photography, entrepreneurial education, theater and arts administration and two- and three-dimensional media production.
When the purchase was announced, Saint Francis officials said it would save the university money, since building a new center would have cost between $7 million and $8 million.
Construction on what was at the time the Mizpah Shrine Temple began in 1924. The building opened a year later with its first public performance, “Aida” by the Chicago Grand Opera Company, according to the university. Throughout its history, the Moorish-style brick building has housed other activities including Army recruiting offices during World War II and an indoor golf course.
