On the street corners of Spring and Marion, signs posted by the City of Seattle indicate plans for Seattle University’s incoming Museum of Art. About a year ago, Seattle U announced its plans to build a museum to house the $300 million Hedreen Art collection donation in place of the Lee Center for the Arts, and to break ground on the project by August 2026. All signs point to the project staying on track. 

The Lee has served as home for the Theater Department since 2006. The demolition decision received strong pushback and disapproval from  theater department faculty and students. After the merger and demolition, Seattle U plans to have the theater program and other arts programs take place on the South Lake Union campus in Cornish facilities.

This disapproval was immediately followed by a student-led campaign to “#SaveTheLee.” The campaign included “Scratched Out,” a theater production which featured scenes, songs and poetry asking the university to reconsider its decision to demolish the Lee center. The campaign also featured a documentary by Shay Rutherford, a film studies alumnus who graduated in 2025,  that includes commentary from theater students and faculty on their connection to and the importance of the building. 

The building plan signs remind some in the theater department of what they perceive to be a failure of the administration to communicate and consider their opinions before making decisions that directly impact the department. 

Professor of Performing Arts & Arts Leadership, Visual Arts, Aly Bedford, clarified theater faculty’s perspective in the aftermath of losing the Lee Center.

“We all have a begrudging resignation now. We must move forward and figure out how and where in the world we are going to produce our shows for the next academic year. And because we are losing our ‘home,’ we have to displace some of our visual arts exhibitions within our visual arts department to make room for theater items and work items to move into our Fine Arts building, which is already very full,” Bedford wrote in an email to the Spectator, adding, “It’s not giving our students the best experience as they learn their craft and this whole plan certainly doesn’t seem in the vein of Jesuit teachings.”

As the theater department at the South Lake Union campus merges with the First Hill Campus in the wake of the Lee’s destruction, its faculty and students must also work to enable the functioning of the new integrated program.

Melanie Burgess, professor of costume design in performance production and theater chair, is one of the Cornish and Seattle U Integration Committee members who sympathized with the frustrations surrounding the demolition. 

“I feel compassion for my colleagues that feel like they are losing a great space. I know that space. It’s tragic that it’s going away for sure. It’s really hard because of all the things embedded in that space,” Burgess said.

Burgess also spoke to the necessary and ongoing collaboration between the two campuses, and emphasized successful curriculum integration as the priority for the Cornish and Seattle U Integration Committee. The aim of the merger is to offer theater arts degrees in BFA, BA and minors and emphasis in acting original works, musical theater and performance production.

When reached out to for a comment on the demolition and transition process, Vice President for University Affairs Scott McClellan shared that integration is still ongoing but chose not to comment.

“There will be more to announce and share by the fall, but not until then,” McClellan wrote in an email to the Spectator.

Cece Hanley, a third-year theater major and costume assistant, shared that the Lee Center was full of memories and opportunities for her, and that it would be difficult for her and others to see it go. The signs only remind her of what she saw as a messy and painful process.

“[Seeing the building plan signs] was kind of jarring. We could have been given a warning that those were going up. We didn’t even know the dates of construction or demolition. Nobody thought to tell us; we had to find out from the city. From the very start of this, no communication until decisions are made,” Hanley said.