$19.5 Million arts center named for distinguished alumna Blanche Robertson Bacon
Raleigh, NC – Saint Mary’s School in Raleigh, North Carolina, will dedicate the Blanche Robertson Bacon Performing Arts Center during an all-school ribbon cutting ceremony Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, at 11:15 a.m., on the school’s historic campus at 900 Hillsborough Street in Raleigh.
The Blanche Robertson Bacon Performing Arts center includes the renovation of historic Eliza Battle Pittman Memorial Auditorium, a Raleigh Historic Landmark that opened in June 1907, with the addition of a modern atrium event lobby linking the auditorium to a new arts classroom building. The $19.5 million renovation and construction project began in 2023 and was funded with gifts to the school’s successful $75 million Saint Mary’s Forever campaign that concluded June 30, 2025.
The new arts building represents the first major school building constructed on the historic campus since 1972. Saint Mary’s School, founded in 1842, is located on a 23-acre campus. The campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the newly renovated Pittman Auditorium is one of the school’s buildings included in the National Register inventory.
Together, the three structures – Pittman Auditorium, the new Harriet Matthews Jackson ’73HS Atrium, and the new arts classroom building, which includes the First Citizens Bank Theater – comprise the newly named Blanche Robertson Bacon Performing Arts Center. The performing arts center will primarily host school performances, assemblies, speakers, and special events, and will also offer members of the Raleigh community the opportunity to enjoy performances, concerts, lectures, and more in the facility.
The performing arts center is named for the late Blanche Robertson Bacon, a devoted Saint Mary’s alumna who served on the school’s board of trustees for 16 years and was the recipient of the Outstanding Alumna Award and the John R. Bratton Award for distinguished service to the school over her lifetime.
Historic preservation and design work were provided by CJMW Architecture. Construction and project management services were provided by Williams Realty & Building Company.
“The fusion of the original Neoclassical Revival architecture of historic Pittman Auditorium with the modern design and infrastructure of the 21st century of the new facilities comes together beautifully in the Blanche Robertson Bacon Performing Arts Center to represent the best of Saint Mary’s rich 184-year history and our thoroughly modern and innovative educational program of the present and future,” says Adam Holden, Ed.D., head of school. “Saint Mary’s School students will benefit from this spectacular facility for generations to come.”
About Saint Mary’s School: Saint Mary’s School is an innovative, Episcopal, college-preparatory, boarding and day school for girls in grades 9-12. Founded in 1842, the school’s historic, residential, 23-acre campus is located in the heart of North Carolina’s capital city of Raleigh. With a mission to prepare girls for college and life, Saint Mary’s immerses girls in a dynamic learning environment offering both hands-on classroom learning and opportunities for real-world experiences. Saint Mary’s is Raleigh’s oldest operating educational institution and the fifth oldest girls’ school in the nation. For more information, visit www.sms.edu.
