Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new information since being published in print. 

SIU School of Theater and Dance students and professors this spring semester have been unable to use McLeod Theater, the school’s main stage, after the space shuttered in December to prepare for renovations. But as the semester nears an end, there is not a contractor assigned to the job and work has yet to begin.

Students and professors said they have felt left in the dark, citing a lack of communication from university leadership about the project’s plans and timeline. Teachers also expressed concerns about the program’s enrollment, as McLeod — a 521-seat theater on the south end of the Communications Building on SIU’s Carbondale campus — is an essential part of recruitment efforts for the school.

McLeod renovation is part of long-awaited Communications Building revamp 

The McLeod Theater renovation is part of a larger project to overhaul the campus’ Communications Building, which was built in 1964 and houses the School of Communication Studies and the College of Arts and Media, which includes the schools of Theater and Dance, Journalism and Advertising, Media Arts, Architecture, Art and Design and Music, as well as WSIU, Carbondale’s NPR affiliate.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced in January 2020 that state funding would support construction of a new Communications Building, but delays during the pandemic and rising construction costs meant the project was scaled back to a renovation. 

According to a February 2025 email from SIU Director of Facilities and Energy Management Mark Owens, construction contracts were expected to be bid for the Communications Building renovation by November 2025 and the contractor was expected to mobilize the following February or March. As of April 2026, no bids have been awarded and construction has not started. Yet McLeod Theater had to be vacated this past December. 

According to an email sent by Owens on April 7, the dates set for the contractor to mobilize reflected the “anticipated schedule at the time.” He has stated that since the initial email was sent out in February, the timeline has shifted and McLeod is still in the design phase. The submissions for the design are currently under review by the Illinois Capital Development Board. 

“That process has taken longer than originally anticipated and is outside of the university’s direct control,” Owens wrote.  

The construction of the theater — which opened in 1970 — is not a total renovation. 

Lauren Grenlund — an administrator at the Illinois Capital Development Board — confirmed on April 8 that the project will include a new stage lift, with controls located on the stage for better access. The seating will also be fully replaced with chair-mounted aisle lighting as part of the electrical scope. The new seating will upgrade the chairs and railing.   

The HVAC system will be upgraded in general seating and the stage, providing better air and heat to the theater. The renovations also include a new projector system, with a lift screen and the electrical upgrades to support the system. 

The removed seats will be put up for sale as a piece of history to the community, with proceeds going to the School of Theater and Dance. 

Owens confirmed in a March 31 email to the Daily Egyptian that a bid for construction has not been awarded yet. 

“At this time, a construction bid has not yet been awarded,” Owens wrote to the DE. “The project is anticipated to move into the bidding phase later this year, with (the Capital Development Board) overseeing that process.”

McLeod closure impacts students, teachers in School of Theater and Dance

While the theater is closed, professors and students said the school had to move classes and performances from McLeod into different theaters — like Shryock Auditorium in the center of campus and the Christian H. Moe Laboratory Theater, which is a black-box theater down the hall from McLeod in the Communications Building. 

Susan Steinfeldt, the director of undergraduate studies for the School of Theater and Dance as well as a professor who teaches voice, acting, movement, speech and dialects, said the temporary closure of McLeod affects students and professors alike. 

Steinfeldt said that McLeod has several uses to students within the department. It works as a classroom and theater, and serves students in scenic design, lighting design, costume, dance and theater. Performances for theater and dance students act as the students’ labs. 

“Our faculty, especially our scenic design faculty, have been very involved with the architects and talking about what needs to happen,” Steinfeldt said. “We had to be a part of it because the architects don’t know theaters, so they are looking at it as a classroom. It’s like no, no, no. We’re a production company.”

Steinfelt said the curriculum for lighting students has been affected. She also said that it is difficult for the costume department because all of their storage is now in another building across campus, in the School of Music’s Altgeld Hall. 

She said they had to ask for help transporting costumes across the university. Steinfeldt also said that the information about the university accepting bid offers with contractors has not been clearly communicated among the professors. 

“I do not know and we have not been communicated with if they have accepted a bid or when the groundbreaking will start,” she said. 

Steinfeldt explained that she was under the impression that February or late January would be when the construction started.

James Reifinger, director of the School of Theater and Dance, said a date for construction has not been set yet, but they are looking at late fall of 2026. Reifinger said that the drawings are elaborate, and the process won’t be quick because it has to be approved on multiple levels.

“Unfortunately, the School of Theater and Dance is the first phase and the last phase,” Reifinger said of the Communications Building project. “It’s going to affect us the entire duration, where that might not be the case for other academic units, but in the end we are going to have great facilities.” 

Reifinger said his department is unique because they can’t just move to another classroom. The school had to find venues, and there are not many in the area. 

“One of the odd things about our school is that we can’t just move to another classroom,” Reifinger said. “I don’t think that was on the front end of planning. It didn’t occur that we needed specialized places.” 

When using theaters such as Shryock — which holds 1,200 people — the department has to train ushers because of safety concerns with using the larger theater, which can also cost money. 

Derryl Clark, associate professor at the School of Theater and Dance, said the school is growing out of its space, with small dressing rooms, theater seats that are not accessible and costume areas that are full. 

“The backstage areas are desperately in need of renovation so that the people can use it to put on their face and get their costumes on,” Clark said. “The costume closets and the shops for making costumes are way, way behind the time. It has to be brought up right now.” 

Clark said he was ill-informed about whether or not the university has accepted a bid to start construction, considering they have already moved away from McLeod. 

Clark said if the school provided bigger theaters, it would make them “pretty competitive” with other universities in the area. He said he believes it would make SIU an easier transition from surrounding junior colleges. 

Since performances have been moved to The Moe, the small black-box theater that holds about 100 people, there has been difficulty for choreographers and directors like Clark.

“There is nothing wrong with The Moe, but it is a smaller space,” Clark said. “It makes things like group dances a little harder. It is not impossible, and our class has had many things to adapt to, so we will do it, and it will be good.”

Several theater students said the only form of communication regarding McLeod’s closure came from their professors, relaying the small amount of information they knew or could disclose back to students about why classes and performances were moved out of McLeod. 

Students have also expressed concerns over the size of the Moe. Van Leonard, a senior in the School of Theater and Dance, said the small capacity of the theater requires them to have more nights than usual for shows, which could be exhausting for performers and crew. 

Leonard said he has multiple concerns about the construction at McLeod. He said he was looking forward to having his Senior Showcase in the theater, and was very disappointed when the theater was shuttered amid a lack of communication between the university and students. 

“As the year went on, as the theater was closed, we learned that the university had not even submitted the bid to a contractor yet,” Leonard said. “At the same time, we were moving ourselves out of the space. A vacant theater for no reason.”

The Senior Showcase is an event in which seniors perform one final time for SIU students and present the skills they have developed during their education. The showcase has since been moved to the Moe. Leonard said he and other students hoped the showcase could be held at The Varsity Center in Carbondale if it could not take place at McLeod, because the downtown venue offers more space, but the idea was then shut down by the department because they would not pay to rent The Varsity. 

Leonard said that if the seniors wanted to use that space, the money would have to come from their own pockets. 

He said he had concerns about moving the showcase to The Moe, because there is little room for people outside the theater community to enjoy it. 

Gaige Lage, a senior theater student, said the School of Theater and Dance has allowed for Lage, his classmates and professors to explore many different opportunities in the arts, and McLeod had been a vital part of their experience.

“We use these spaces for everything: classes, rehearsals, student work, student productions,” Lage said. “RSOs use the space. We have so many things we have to use these spaces for.” 

Lage said the students were excited about the renovation, but did not expect to be kicked out of the theater for so long, and so suddenly.

He said he believes the school is growing out of its space. 

“We already don’t have enough space,” Lage said. “We use McLeod to paint things, to build things. If there is not a show going on in there or if they are not preparing for a show, they are using it for extra space.”

Lage said he was pleased they moved their spring production of “Anything Goes” to Shryock, because of the experience of working in new places. But he said unanswered questions are worrying theater students.

“It’s not necessarily that I’m sad that I am not in McLeod for my senior year, it’s the uncertainty for the future of the program that makes me nervous,” Lage said.

Amid construction confusion, school has also faced budget cuts

Steinfeldt said there are possible financial impacts of McLeod’s closure to the School of Theater and Dance. She said the school is reliant on McLeod box office sales.  

“It is deeply impacting our program,” she said. 

According to Steinfeldt, the school is unable to do one of their biggest recruiting events this year, Drama Days, during which high school students come to SIU to tour the school. Steinfeldt said they are unable to do the event because they have nowhere to place the hundreds of students that participate. 

The school is now doing workshops for recruiting high school students, which, according to Steinfeldt, is much less efficient than Drama Days. 

“It’s been very difficult for us because the recruiting money is nonexistent now, too,” Steinfeldt said, referring to budget cuts the program has seen previously. 

Because of the cuts, professors have had to take recruiting events upon themselves. Faculty members have expressed concerns that this will eventually affect enrollment in the School of Theater and Dance. 

“The professors are paying with their own gas money,” Steinfeldt said. “I’m making a two-hour trip next week to meet with some students for an hour as a recruiting event. I’m concerned that the longer we are out of the space, the harder it will be to continue to grow revenue.”

Funding also was completely pulled for the showcase the seniors do in New York City. 

When Leonoard was first starting in SIU’s theater program, the students were told that when they were seniors, they would be able to attend a free workshop program in New York City. The workshop directly followed graduation, and the school had paid for this, excluding a flight and food, for all graduating seniors in the theater and dance program. Now, because of the budget cuts, seniors have to pay for the trip without help from the university, Steinfelt said. 

“The school of theater has been unable to assist fiscally because of severe budget cuts,” Steinfelt said.

The workshop in New York City gives the students an introduction to the theater industry. 

“Budget cuts have really impacted our department because the department has no money to get us to New York,” Leonard said. “When auditioning for this program, this is a thing that is advertised as being paid for. All we would have to pay for is a way to get there and food, which is a lot less money.”

The students are planning to write letters to university leadership to encourage them to help support this workshop. 

Theater professors and students are trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel amid budget cuts and temporary closures but still want clear communication and answers from the university.

“It is not impossible to come back from those things, the school will not fall into the abyss,” Leonard said. “I think the important thing is to put pressure on the people with the money and say, ‘Hey, think about the student; think about the education.’”

According to St. Louis Public Radio, SIU’s School of Theater and Dance previously received about $75,000 in state funding, but state funding for the school was reduced to $0 for fiscal year 2025 and remained at that level for fiscal year 2026. That state funding had been covering show production, recruitment, retention and student jobs. Staff and faculty salaries are paid through a different budget line.

Since 2020, several universities have lost funding for their theater programs. Schools like Jacksonville University cut 40 faculty members and cut funding for theater and music programs within the university. 

Reifinger said it was “unclear right now” if the department could see financial impacts from the temporary closure of McLeod. 

Lage said that although the future of McLeod remains uncertain, the arts will persist — at SIU and elsewhere.

“Art creates a community —  a bond,” Lage said. “It creates a love. It’s an interest that humans have and it takes a specific kind of human to love, appreciate and be within the arts. Theater is a space for people who feel like they don’t belong. If we are having unanswered questions about something like a renovation on our building, it just makes the future look uncertain.”

“I think anyone in the arts at any school is constantly nervous that it will go away,” Lage said. “You see it every day. Theater has always been here, and it will always be here. It will never go away. It will adapt, it will change. Live theater is not going to die.”

Staff Reporter Mariah Fletcher can be reached at [email protected].

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