Clark State Performing Arts Center
Written by: Jo Alice Blondin, Ph.D., Clark State College president
Clark State College is home to one of the premier arts and entertainment venues in the country—the Clark State College Performing Arts Center. Modeled after the Kravitz Center in Palm Beach, Florida, but retaining its own uniqueness here in Springfield, Ohio, the Performing Arts Center complex includes the Kuss Auditorium, which seats 1,500 and is also host to the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and the Springfield Arts Council; the Turner Studio Black Box Theater, which seats 200; and a number of community rooms utilized by Project Jericho and many community youth and dance organizations. Also within this complex is the Hollenbeck Bayley Conference Center, with the Pavlatos Grand Hall, seating 400 at round tables for conferences, meetings and rentals, such as wedding receptions, and additional space for smaller meetings and classrooms throughout the building.
Opened on Nov. 6, 1993, with a vision to bring high-quality arts and entertainment to the citizens of Clark County, the establishment of the PAC was championed and fundraised by legendary business and community leader, Richard Kuss, alongside then Clark State President Al Salerno and many other community members including Fred Leventhal. During its 32 plus years in operation, the Clark State Performing Arts Center has hosted many prominent artists and productions including Willie Nelson, B.B. King, Lou Rawls, Itzhak Perlman and Mary Chapin Carpenter (a personal favorite) and, more recently, the national production of the musical “Elf” on the Kuss Auditorium stage.
The PAC has also hosted countless community events since its inception including Clark State’s own graduation ceremonies and those of area school districts, dance and music recitals and competitions, nationally-recognized speakers, and, on the stage of the Kuss, the annual Springfield Symphony Orchestra’s fundraiser, “Grapes and Escapes,” which takes place during the first Saturday in February. Between ticketed and community events, it is estimated that more than 100,000 seats are occupied during the course of a year, bringing the total visitors to the PAC to approximately 3.2 million since its founding.
While Clark State is grateful to the visitors from every zip code in Ohio and beyond who attend events at the PAC, this venue should very much be enjoyed by those in our surrounding community who have the unique opportunity to attend an event at the PAC and enjoy its state-of-the-art productions. The PAC is staffed by eight dedicated full-time employees, led by Manager Dan Hunt, who has been with the PAC for 32 years, nearly since its inception.
The PAC is a point of pride for Clark County and Springfield and we must, as a community, continue to resource these beautiful facilities through attendance and utilization of these venues. Clark State College, led by its Board of Trustees, finances the operations of the PAC and, while there is a charge to rent these facilities based on an organization’s status—non-profit or business—the college significantly subsidizes the operations of the PAC. Ticket sales do not often cover the total cost of hosting an artist or production at Clark State. The college is constantly updating technology, equipment and guest experiences at the PAC including the recently renovated PAC lobby. The money to support these updates has come from two sources: Capital Bill monies generously championed by our legislators and from the small Performing Arts Center endowment.
Clark State College does not receive a levy to support the operations of the college or the PAC—we pay for their operations from our state appropriations received every fiscal year, and the PAC is not a “break even” operation. It is, however, a gift to the people of Clark County and our surrounding communities, and it is our great hope that the community enjoys the entertainment and utilizes these facilities, as we are indeed “Your Center for the Arts.”