ODESSA, Texas — Odessans can start looking forward to a new entertainment venue in Downtown Odessa as the Odessa College Downtown Community Center is nearing completion.
The expected completion is around late April, as long as mother nature provides no weather delays for construction.
After that, Odessa College is expecting to invite everyone out in early May to celebrate the completion of phase one of this project and the opportunities it will provide.
“If you go down there right now you can start to see the facility actually come together – the large stages, the restrooms, the facilities areas and all the stuff that’s going up – so, take a look," said Ken Zartner, Vice President for Administrative Services at Odessa College.
Located on the corner of 4th street and Jackson in Downtown Odessa, live entertainment, a splash pad and an amphitheater are just a few additions that this new venue will provide.
“We are so pleased to be part of downtown," said Jacqui Gore, Vice President of Advancement at Odessa College. "The revitalization of downtown is very important to us here at Odessa College, and this will just be another opportunity where we can interact with our community members and encourage those in our community to seek higher education.”
The planning for the project started back in 2021 before the groundbreaking happened last summer.
For those who have been involved in the process, it is satisfying to see the finish line in sight.
“To see the full circle going through all the challenges and the partnernships and everything we’ve gone through to get to this point, it’s an amazing feeling to get to a completion for phase one," said Zartner. "Phase two will come eventually, and we’re working on that now, but it’s going to be an amazing experience to see phase one completed. It’s going to be phenomenal for the community as a whole.”
Odessa College has enjoyed a great partnership with the City of Odessa, and with their fresh presence in downtown nearing, they also hope to be a building block in the area.
“We’re hoping that Odessa College’s involvement in this downtown area will encourage other businesses and entities to join us in taking up one of those downtown locations and really make this a thriving area for Odessa and the Permian Basin to come and have a good time," said Gore.
The space is also expected to be used for education courses at Odessa College for exercise, art and music classes.
Odessa College is working on talking to donors ahead of phase two of this project, which will add more academic development with an entrepreneurial building.