By DAVID GROUT
Media Relations, Grace College

WINONA LAKE — Grace College and Seminary announced the leasing of Rodeheaver Auditorium to a local area business group. The leasee, Living Winona, will invest significant resources to update the current Rodeheaver Auditorium in Winona Lake.

While the newly purposed building will retain the name Rodeheaver Auditorium, the business will operate as the Winona Heritage Room. Plans for the renovation are not yet finalized, but will revolve around creating a first-class facility for banquets, wedding receptions, conferences and other Grace College and community uses. In addition, the stage portion of the auditorium will be maintained, allowing for continued hosting of concerts and musicals. All current contracts with Rodeheaver will be honored through the new leasing agreement.

In recent years, Grace has introduced a number of measures with this in mind including 3-year accelerated degrees, tuition reduction for students and free textbook rentals.

Grace College is also a longstanding member of the local community, serving the area for more than 75 years.

“We are excited for these changes and believe they will serve the needs of Grace College, our students and the community,” Grace College and Seminary President, Dr. Bill Katip, said. “In addition, Living Winona’s history of supporting Grace as well as the community makes them the ideal partner.”

“We are passionate about strengthening community through place-making while creating vibrant public places that encourage nature and people to thrive, taking what we know about our neighbors and surroundings to better our future,” Caleb France of Living Winona LLC said. “We are thrilled to help build on the very deep heritage that Grace College, the Village at Winona and the town of Winona Lake have created over the years and are proud to announce the opening of Winona Heritage Room.”

 To help kick off the musical events at the new Winona Heritage Room, the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts has announced that the Symphony of the Lakes will perform four concerts in the upgraded space. “Our HEROES concert on Oct. 10, will feature popular scores from famous movies that have inspired superheroes, wizards, spies and gladiators,” Wagon Wheel Executive Director, Will Dawson, said. “While we’ve always enjoyed playing in the Rodeheaver Auditorium, we are looking forward to the improvements that Living Winona is undertaking.”

 Anyone interested in scheduling an event with the Winona Heritage Room can email [email protected].