"Over the past five years dance has started to build infrastructure on an large scale," says Jack Lemmon, executive director at the Joffrey. "Ours will be one of the biggest." Over the past three years, Lemmon says big dance facilities have been constructed for the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, the Boston Ballet and the Miami City Ballet.

While city officials are kicking in $4 million as part of Mayor Daley's rejuvenation plan for the Downtown theatre district, the new Joffrey project will not be a performance facility. "This will be our new headquarters," says Lemmon. The planned headquarters building is sorely needed as dancers are currently practicing is facilities that are unsuitable. "Some of studios have pillars in them, which you can imagine isn't very practical," says Lemmon.

The new facility will have five dance studios, the largest of which will replicate the size of the company's performance stage. The rest of the facility will be dedicated to wardrobe, dressing, production and administration functions.