Proudly sitting on Belmont Boulevard across from the charming Sterling Court Apartments, the Belmont University Performing Arts Center houses a 1,700-seat multipurpose theater, a grand lobby and two contiguous recital halls that can accommodate 300 guests each. The 155,000-square-foot building is bathed in limestone and offers grand columns, arched windows, balustrades and a crowning dome with accompanying cupola. Some locals will perhaps dislike the building, contending its neotraditional design suggests a certain inauthenticity for the 21st century. But the center’s quality materials and craftsmanship cannot be denied. Nashville-based ESa designed the building — and nailed the effort.
