KALISPELL — A $26 million project is making progress on the campus of Flathead Valley Community College (FVCC) in Kalispell, bringing exciting new opportunities to the Flathead Valley.
“I would say this probably is one of the more transformational spaces because I don’t think there is anything else like it right now in Northwest Montana,” Flathead Valley Community College President Jane Karas told MTN News.
The 58,000 square foot facility which will soon be home to a 1,000-seat performance hall and a two-court gymnasium is a sight to see as the new college center starts to take shape.
“We started breaking ground about late spring of 2019, it’s a very big project, lots of work that had to be done so, we’re looking forward to having it completed, and thanks to this very generous community we are able to raise the funds to help build this building,” said Karas.
Karas said $18 million for the project was raised in the first 18 months of fundraising.
“As we say, one college, one community, endless possibilities, this facility will provide so many new opportunities for our students but for everybody in Northwest Montana, Flathead County, Lincoln County and the counties that surround us,” added Karas.
Karas said the state-of-the-art performance hall will attract world-renowned musicians, theater performances and will serve as home base for the Flathead’s Glacier Symphony and Chorale.
“We did build this in mind for them using this as a home base for their performances with acoustics that will provide the symphonic sound you would find in any kind of symphony hall,” added Karas.
Glacier Symphony and Chorale Music Director and Conductor John Zoltek said having a performance hall designed for symphonic music will have long-lasting benefits for his orchestra.
“We’re looking forward to not only increasing our number of concerts, bringing in higher quality of guests artist to perform with the symphony and just generally building the symphony, this is a great evolutionary set up for us in our 40th season,” said Zoltek.
Glacier Symphony performs at a number of venues across Flathead County including Flathead High School and Whitefish’s performance art center. Zoltek said calling the college center home will allow the symphony to evolve to an even higher professional standard.
“It will be nice to have one concentrated, professional high-quality hall to play in, that’s really a dream of all of ours,” said Zoltek.
If construction stays on schedule, the college center plans to officially open doors this coming fall.
