USF purchase of Scottish Rite finalized

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - The sale of the Scottish Rite Center was finalized Wednesday. The University of Saint Francis will rename it the USF Performing Arts Center.

The university announced its intention to purchase the Scottish Rite Center at 431 W. Berry St. in Fort Wayne on November 10 as a location for a new Media Entrepreneurship Training in the Arts (META) program and as a facility for use by the public for events, entertainment and meetings.

The 82,672 square-foot building holds a 2,018-seat auditorium, meeting rooms, ballroom, offices and lounges that adapt well to its reuse as an arts and media technology center, university officials said.

As the new USF Performing Arts Center, the facility and its ornate theater, ballroom and extensive meeting rooms are also available for bookings through the university’s Director of Facilities and Events. Visit usfpac.com or call 260-399-7700 ext. 6107 for more information.

Plans call for the multimedia center to serve as the main facility for several of the university’s existing media arts programs and as a home for newly developed ones. In the public arena, the theater can be reserved for plays and recitals, the ballroom for wedding and other special event receptions, and its meeting rooms for community and business events.