The Deeply Rooted Center for Black Dance and Creative Communities has received a full building permit, clearing the way for Toro Construction Corp. to break ground on a vacant lot at the northeast corner of S. State Street and E. 54th Street in Washington Park. The permit marks a milestone for Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, which spent nearly three decades performing and training without a permanent home of its own.
According to Urbanize Chicago, the new center at 5339 S. State St. will transform the long-vacant site into a training and presenting space that includes six dance studios, a black box theater for performance and rehearsal, a costume and set design shop, a library and resource center, meeting rooms, offices, green spaces for community gatherings, and a rooftop garden. Toro Construction Corp. will work through the project's completion, though the outlet's report notes that no formal timeline for the development has been announced. The project is envisioned as an international home for Black dance and a hub for a wider network of dance partners.
Deeply Rooted Dance Theater made its public debut in 1996 under co-founders Kevin Iega Jeff and Gary Abbott, operating out of shared South Loop studio space for nearly 30 years without a dedicated venue, according to the Chicago Crusader. The company celebrated its 30th anniversary season in May 2026 with a performance at the historic Auditorium Theatre featuring premiere works by both founders, as reported by Windy City Times. In January 2023, Makeda Crayton joined artistic director Nicole Clarke-Springer as executive director, making Deeply Rooted one of the few major Chicago arts organizations co-led by two Black women, per Broadway World.
A Building Designed for Community, Not Just Performance
The Deeply Rooted Center for Black Dance and Creative Communities was designed by Johnson & Lee Architects, and the two-story, 33,270-square-foot facility features a curtain wall exterior with a yellow-green facade, an interior atrium, six studios, a black-box performance space, and a rooftop garden, according to Chicago YIMBY. The project site sits within a seven-minute walk of CTA bus routes 29 and 55 as well as CTA Red and Green Line rapid transit stations at Garfield, the outlet notes, positioning the center as an accessible anchor for students, performers, and South Side residents alike.
The land itself came from the city. The City of Chicago agreed to sell two long-vacant municipal lots in Washington Park totaling 0.54 acres to Deeply Rooted for $1 each to assemble the parcel needed for the new center, according to the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development. The site had sat vacant for decades before the deal, turning unused municipal property into the foundation for a cultural institution.
Funding Grew From $15.6 Million to $20.9 Million
Deeply Rooted formally launched a $15.6 million capital campaign in July 2023 after securing major seed grants, including $5 million from the Chicago Recovery Plan Fund, $3 million from Rebuild Illinois, and $2 million from the Mellon Foundation, Broadway World reported at the time. That budget has since grown substantially: in July 2026, Mayor Brandon Johnson proposed a $10.5 million Community Development Grant, funded through the city's Housing and Economic Development Bond, to support construction of what is now a $20.9 million project, the city's planning department said.
The scale of that public backing carries added weight given the industry's funding history. A 2019 study titled Mapping the Dance Landscape in Chicagoland found that more than 56% of regional grant dollars went to three majority-white institutions, while non-white or ethnic dance groups received only 9%, according to a report in Performance Response Journal. Municipal capital support for a Black-led dance institution's permanent facility stands apart against that backdrop.
Part of a Broader Network Supporting Black Dance
Deeply Rooted is also part of the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project, a multi-year capacity-building initiative housed at the University of Chicago's Logan Center for the Arts that supports ten Black dance organizations across the city, according to the Harris Theater. The project offers shared administrative resources and joint performances at major cultural venues, connecting Deeply Rooted's Washington Park expansion to a citywide effort to strengthen Black dance institutions.
Deeply Rooted also performed as one of ten companies at Chicago's annual Dance for Life benefit concert, which marked its 35th anniversary in August, as Hoodline previously reported. That appearance came weeks before this permit approval, but it did not touch on the building's construction, land sale, or funding — all developments that have unfolded separately as the company works toward opening its first permanent home.
