Even with the budget cuts and financial problems, FAU always seems to be breaking ground on new projects. Breaking ground on the Boca campus’s new Living Room Theater, a multi-million dollar movie theater, is no exception.

The project, totaling $22 million, received $19 million from the state of Florida, according to Manjunath Pendakur, dean of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters.

An additional $3 million came from Ernesto Rimoch, the president of Living Room Theaters, through a $1.5 million donation that was matched by the state. The ground-breaking ceremony was held on June 2 on the south side of the Performing Arts Building at the Boca campus.

This 73,000-square-foot building will house four theaters and 14 classrooms. The second floor will be the new home of the departments of English, linguistics and sociology, as well as the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies. The theaters will have plush couches, and the building will also include a café and a bar where alcohol will be served.

The theater will feature independent and international films. Pendakur describes the films as “very avant-garde.” Some movies being played at the original Living Room Theater in Portland, Oregon, include Goodfellas, The Escapist, and Coraline in 3-D. FAU’s classes in and research of 3-D films is a big part of why Rimoch decided to build the second theater of its kind at FAU.

“We might bring in a French new wave director to discuss their work. Then, later in the night we will watch that particular film,” Rimoch adds. “I grew up with a completely different film culture, and I think it’s important to recoup what has been lost. What better place to do that than a university?”

Rimoch, who was raised in Mexico and France, grew up watching Eastern European and French new wave films.

“FAU’s research and culture is very important,” he explains.

Pendakur thinks the new building will be “the heart of the campus.”

“Perhaps not the center of campus, but the center of the universe,” jokes FAU President Frank T. Brogan.

The university hopes that this theater will not only bring together students and faculty, but also the surrounding community. The theater will be open to the public, but at this time it is unknown if students will be able to enjoy the movies for free.

“I can’t imagine there wouldn’t be at least a student discount,” says Student Body President Tiffany Weimar.

To learn more about FAU’s new movie theater, visit www.livingroomtheaters.com. To see photos from the ground breaking ceremony, click here.