NCC dedicates new arts center

Showmanship, performances and words of recognition - along with a bit of theatrical razzle-dazzle - characterized Saturday's dedication of the new Wentz Concert Hall and Fine Arts Center on North Central College's Naperville campus.

"Artists and the arts are critical to our humanity," North Central President Harold Wilde told the packed house, seated in the 13,000-square-foot, 605-seat Chicago Avenue concert hall. "Great music, both secular and sacred, has a refining and elevating power."

After Wilde spoke near the conclusion of the 90-minute ceremony, a bright red ribbon suspended over the hall's main floor was dramatically lowered.

Wilde presented the ribbon to Myron Wentz, for whom the hall is named, who ceremoniously snipped it in half to applause. Wentz, a scientist and businessman, graduated from North Central in 1963.

Rick Spencer, the college's vice president for institutional advancement, said Wentz's financial gift was one of the donations that started the college on the path toward building the $30 million arts center, which also includes a visual arts gallery and a black box theater.

"Thank you, Dr. Wentz, for making your dream our dream and doing so much to make that dream come true," Spencer said.

Spencer presented Wentz and several other individuals with fine arts medals in recognition of their contributions.

The entire complex measures 57,000 square feet and also includes offices, a kitchen and rehearsal spaces. Acoustics in the concert hall were carefully engineered to create optimal sound, college officials said.

Doug Pawlik, a senior music education student at North Central, was one of two students to assist with lowering the ribbon. Before the dedication, he also serenaded the lobby crowd with a small ensemble, the Chamber Singers.

"The best part is, you can manipulate the sound all around," Pawlik said. "Just the lobby sounds great."

The morning's program also included a solo vocal performance by Brian Lynch, the college's fine arts director, and several pieces sung by the Women's Chorale and Concert Choir, including the opening processional, a piece composed by 1972 alumnus Stephen Sturk.

Wilde answered his own rhetorical question, "How do you formally dedicate a 57,000-square-foot cathedral to the arts?" when he invited the fine arts honorees to join him on stage for the ribbon-cutting.

"Cue the trumpets," he said.