Have you ever been curious about the odd little building by F Building, under the ball statue in the courtyard by A Building? Seasoned vets of Eastfield and newcomers alike might find themselves stunned to learn that this semester the campus “gained” a new building.

H Building is no longer a thing of myth; it went under a complete makeover during summer break. What once was known as an impression making art gallery in the past transitioned into a spacious area to store the theater department’s costumes.

The present day studio has undergone a complete transformation. During the summer, Professors Emily Gray and Danielle Georgiou, along with other faculty and staff, set out on a mission — to clean and clear out the old costume storage room. Throughout the years, the costume storage area became more of an everything storage, starting with props and moving further away from what some would consider “costume adjacent.” Finally, with the discord and clutter of the room already distracting from its original goal, it became more of a trash heap closer to the front doors.

Gray knew she could put the space to good use and so she started by asking her Department Head for permission. After getting them on board, she made her way towards getting more help, starting with Eastfield’s own theater department and branching her way out to enlist the Theater Departments of several other Dallas College  campuses. Eastfield’s Dance Department and its Professor Danielle Georgiou were instrumental in the process.

The team worked for an entire month, and the storage room was transformed into a performing arts studio. Clearing their way step-by-step from the front door to the back closet of the space, they trudged through to where the origin of the costume storage began to start. Teams of theater/dance majors and staff found themselves discovering 10 years of theatrical history. Working their way through the room; relics of past productions were uncovered. Some items of note that were found included:

• Vintage dresses

• Vintage uniforms

• Capes

• Robes

• Vntage risquè lingerie

• Life size foam donkey legs with realistic fur, hair and tails, covered in fake blood.

Assisted by ABM, the campus’ cleaning company, everyone got to work clearing out the debris and trash, as well as mopping and sweeping the space out once it was cleared.

With the space now clean and ready, it came to furnishing. Eastfield got in touch with Richland’s Dance Department to see if they could lend a hand. It just so happened that Richland had salvaged a great portion of their dance floor and had been storing it for future use. The donation of a fresh studio-quality dance floor, paired with the professional art gallery lighting left over from the past transformed the space.

Now being used as a room for students to work on their performance art skills, H Building is a great resource for theater and dance students alike.