Emens Auditorium Renovation About Welcoming Public In

Ball State University has welcomed students for a new academic year, and now its Emens Auditorium is welcoming people inside a renovated lobby.  As IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports, the 12,000 square foot addition has added some breathing room to this 50 year-old building.

Brick pavers are being laid in front of Emens Auditorium.

Outside in the now much shorter plaza of Emens Auditorium, concrete and new bricks are being laid in the hot sun.  Inside the much larger lobby, however, it’s cool and quiet.

Bob Myers is the director of Emens.

“I’ve had many compliments from people on-campus and off, as they’ve visited inside and as they’ve driven by, that this addition… they say, ‘It fits. It’s new, but it looks like it belongs.’”

The expanded lobby’s terrazzo floors blend seamlessly with the original floors poured when the building was built in the early 1960’s.

There’s also an expanded vestibule to bring patrons in out of the rain and snow and a bigger box office with more ticket windows.  Inside the lobby, double concession counters allow food and drink to be sold.

But one of the most important improvements, says Myers, is less grand, but more necessary –  adding bathrooms to the first floor of the auditorium.

Twin concessions counters in the Emens Lobby still need countertops and other finishing touches.

“The number one priority for me when we were looking at this expansion was more restroom capacity.  Because unlike sporting events, [in] live performances, people tend to wait until intermission.”

On the second floor, the expanded lobby space is topped with a new meeting room with floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto Riverside Avenue below.

“There are powered shades that come down, but we’re right now still enjoying the view.”

The space can fit 100 people for a meal or 200 in theater-style seating.

The brick plaza and pedestrian thoroughfare outside Emens is scheduled to be finished in mid-October.

“It’s supposed to be a beautiful place to sit, meet.”

Myers hopes that it, too, will get much use and help bring people back to the building that was originally built with community financial support.

Late morning light pours into the second floor addition.