Eric Baker Nord Performing Arts Annex

Date

2018-present

Location

67 South Main Street

Architects/Collaborators

DLR Group, Cleveland, OH (architects)

Style

Contemporary

History

The 45,000-square foot performing arts annex is part of a multi-phased renovation and addition project that includes the newly completed Irene & Alan Wurtzel Theater, a highly adaptable space that accommodates between 200 and 300 seats. Nestled alongside Hall Auditorium, the venue serves as a multiform home for Oberlin’s theater, dance, and vocal studies departments. The project was made possible by a generous donation from the Eric & Jane Nord Family Fund, Irene and Alan Wurtzel ’55, and other charitable donors.

The building project was completed in phases, beginning in 2016 with a renovation of Hall Annex. Thanks to a donation from musical composer John Kander ’51, this update allowed the theater department to relocate to Hall Annex from Warner Center. A highlight of Hall Annex is the Kander Theater, a black box theater used for student productions. Upgrades to the theater include a raised ceiling and improved acoustics. A colorful renovated lobby space outside the theater also includes an accessible elevator.

The Eric Baker Nord Performing Arts Annex also features an expansive lobby, scene shop, costume shop with climate-controlled storage and laundry, secure dressing area with a shower, renovated and accessible restrooms, green room, staging area with sprung wooden floors and state-of-the-art technology, as well as other necessary spaces.

The building's designers won the 2019 AIA Ohio Design Award for this project.

Sources

"Eric Baker Nord Performing Arts Annex Opens" by Hillary Hempstead, Oberlin College website, December 18, 2018. Accessed 3/23/2023.

AIA Ohio website, accessed 3/23/2023.