It is March 19, 1996 and the sound of the Louisville orchestra invades the RIchard K Stem Concert Hall. They dont' play in vain, but rather for commemoration. Over 300 contributors, community memeber, staff, faculty, and students celebrate the realization of a dream. A dream that started to form in 1973 when Indiana University Southeast moved from it's Jeffersonville location to it's new campus in New Albany.
The fantasty accomplishes was the opening of the w. Ogle Cultural and Community Center. Being named after the philanthropist Paul W. Ogle, this center was not an easy project to acheive. The facility received bonding approval from the Indiana General Assembly in 1991, eighteeen years after the idea of the center was born.
To build something so marvelous, financial sources were essential. Before it's existence, the estimated cost for the center's construction was overwhelming. At least 3 million dollars would have to come from the community. Thanks to the contributions of the Ogle Foundation, and other remarkable individuals, that issue was eliminated. Approximately 1,300 supporters furnished the center with nearly $5 million.
The Ogle Center's magnitude is nothing ordinary, but it's actually quite exceptional. The 38,000-square-foot location contains Halls, Theatres, Art galleries.The Richard K. Stem Hall embraces 500 seats and the Robinson Theatre consists of 350 seats.
There is also a 100 seat hall and the Ronald L. Barr Art Gallery. In addition to all of that, the center has practice studios, theatre support facilities, classrooms and faculty offices. Almost forty percent of the facility is devoted solely to instruction, which also takes place at the Center's performance spaces.
You may think that such a place if directed to people with perfect motor abilities. Well it's not! The center also offers assistant listening devices and wheel chair accessibility. The Stem Concert hall, the recital hall, and the Robinson Theatre are all furnished with five assistant listening devices offered to those who do not posses hearing aids.