The approximately 65,000-square-foot facility will house a large performance hall with about 1,150 seats, including upper-level balcony seating and box seating. The $54.9 million center, approved by voters in a 2018 bond program, will also feature a 2,000-square-foot gallery space designed to showcase rotating work from FISD students and is intended to provide students with professional-level exhibition opportunities, officials said.
“From the time of its inception, this Visual and Performing Arts Center was intended to be a home for our fine arts programs,” said Preston Hazzard, FISD managing director of fine arts, in an email.
About the project
The performance hall will enhance the fine arts education for all students in FISD, said Brett Sumrow, principal and education sector leader at Corgan, in an email. The facility was designed through a collaboration between Corgan, the firm designing the center, and FISD to understand the needs for the facility in order to create a professional-grade venue, he said.
“As always, the planning and design process was highly collaborative to ensure every aspect of the facility serves the needs of students and staff,” Sumrow said.
The performance hall will seat approximately 1,150, he said, with the ability to add movable chairs for additional seating capacity. This will be a significant increase from the district’s existing high school auditoriums and allow for flexibility in hosting large-scale events, he said.
Along with the performance hall and gallery space, the venue will include two multipurpose rooms totaling 7,000 square feet. The multipurpose rooms can function as venues for competitions, such as the University Interscholastic League, or UIL.
A closer look
The district’s student opportunity model played a role when designing the facility, Hazzard previously told Community Impact.
The district operates a higher number of elementary, middle and high schools as part of its student opportunity model. The district’s guiding philosophy increases student engagement by allowing a greater percentage of students to participate in leadership roles. With fewer schools, there are less opportunities for roles in student organizations, officials said.
Students will benefit from the ability to work in a professional theater space, said Bob Zak, president of Theatre Frisco, in an email. Fine arts students will be able to learn by working with professional-level lighting systems, sound software and more, he said.
Measuring the impact
The new performing arts center will allow students to experience the discipline and expectations needed in a professional theatre space, Zak said. Exposure to fine arts, such as music, theater or visual arts, can help foster creativity and empathy in children, he said.
“Arts organizations create a sense of place and belonging, and bring people from different backgrounds together, enabling dialogue and understanding,” Zak said.
Involvement in fine arts is also shown to improve a student’s education. Texas students involved in arts programs are up to 46% more likely to pass Texas Success Initiative, or TSI, criteria, according to the 2025 State of the Arts Report by the Texas Cultural Trust.
Studies have also shown that 94% of high school students engaged in arts programs attended a four-year college, according to the report. FISD currently has 75% of middle school students and 45% of high school students involved in fine arts programs during the 2025-26 school year.
District programs are expected to keep the facility booked more than 160 days per year. Community groups will also be able to use the center.
Stay tuned
The Visual and Performing Arts Center is expected to be completed and operational by spring 2026, Sumrow said. FISD is expecting to host grand opening activities later this school year, Hazzard said.
“With this facility, we know the best is yet to come,” he said. “I can’t wait to see our students performing and showcasing in this facility.”
