Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Secures Permits for $16M Washington Park Cultural Center

• Deeply Rooted Dance Theater has received building permits for its new 33,270-square-foot Center for Black Dance and Creative Communities at 5339 S. State Street.
• The project is estimated at roughly $15.6 million to $17 million, with Toro Construction Corporation serving as general contractor.
• Designed by Johnson & Lee Architects, the center will include six dance studios, a black box theater, creative workshops, offices, community spaces and a rooftop garden.

What Deeply Rooted Is Building

Deeply Rooted Dance Theater is moving closer to construction on a permanent home in Washington Park, transforming a long-vacant site at State Street and East 54th Street into a new cultural anchor. The nonprofit is the owner and project sponsor, according to permit reporting, while Johnson & Lee Architects is designing the facility and Toro Construction Corporation is the general contractor. The center will provide a permanent headquarters for Deeply Rooted, which has operated from shared and leased spaces for decades. The organization describes the project as the first multipurpose facility in Chicago dedicated to Black dance.

 

 

What The 33,270-Square-Foot Center Includes

The three-level facility will be organized around a central atrium and include six dance studios, a black box theater, rehearsal areas, costume and set design shops, offices, meeting rooms and a resource center. A rooftop garden will add outdoor community space, while the street-facing design incorporates a large corner window wall, textured concrete panels and a prominent mural. The project is designed to function as more than a performance venue. Deeply Rooted says the center will serve as an international home for Black dance while providing space for education, collaboration and community programming.

 

 

What The Financing And Site Mean

The project has been in development for several years, with Deeply Rooted launching a $15.6 million capital campaign in 2023 after securing more than $13 million in public and private commitments at the time. The site itself also represents a public-private redevelopment effort. The City of Chicago previously agreed to sell two vacant municipal lots totaling about 0.54 acres to Deeply Rooted for $1 each, helping assemble the property for the new center. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has also appropriated $400,000 for capital improvements at the Deeply Rooted Center.

What Comes Next

With the building permit now secured, Toro Construction can move toward breaking ground. Recent coverage indicates construction is expected to begin in 2026, although a formal completion schedule has not been announced. For Washington Park, the project brings a significant institutional investment to a formerly vacant property and adds a new cultural destination near the Garfield CTA station and State Street corridor. For investors and developers, it is another example of nonprofit and public funding being used to activate underutilized South Side land with a long-term community-serving use.