The Averitt Center for the Arts will celebrate the grand opening of its newest facility, the Center for Performing Arts, at 41 W. Main St., on Friday.
    The ribbon cutting is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., and the public is invited to attend and tour the facility.
    Located between Humble Abodes and Thayer Monument Company, the center houses a 70-seat black box theater, two state-of-the-art dance studios, and a fine arts and crafts gallery selling regionally produced artwork and gift items.
    Since starting its youth arts education programs three years ago, growing attendance has required the Averitt Center to expand its physical footprint in downtown Statesboro, Executive Director Tim Chapman explained.
    “We started with approximately 10 children in our after-school program and about 20 in the Statesboro Youth Ballet program,” he said. “Today, three years later, we are serving nearly 500 children per week in our ballet, choral, strings, theater and visual arts programs as well as our after-school-care Arts After Hours program.”
    The Center for the Performing Arts will be home to the Averitt’s ballet and theater programs. Dance students are already enjoying the facility’s larger studios and professional sprung floors — a special type of flooring that protects against injuries. Soaring ceilings and heat-sealed marley floors give the studios a professional feel.  
    Theater students are happy to be in their own space as well.
    “Before now, locations for the theater classes have had to move between our main building and the old dance studio building,” Chapman said. “This will give the theater program a ‘home,’ a place where they meet consistently.”
    The Center for Performing Arts is the first of a three-facility expansion the Averitt Center is planning over the next five years. The second facility, the Roxie Remley Center for Fine Arts, scheduled to open this fall, will house drawing, painting and ceramics classes. The future Thurman Lanier Center for Arts Education will house chorale and strings programs as well as significantly expand visual arts gallery spaces.
    “We are excited about the future of the Averitt Center for the Arts and the impact of quality arts education and opportunities on Statesboro and the surrounding communities,” Chapman said. “Our vision is that our expanded physical footprint will encourage pedestrian and retail growth in downtown, making a positive impact on the community and region.”