The CORD – Powerhouse

Hope Transforms

Where Character, Creativity and Innovation Collide

The CORD – Powerhouse will be a 29,000 sq. ft. hub for collaboration, storytelling, performance and entrepreneurship. Designed as the Center to Create Opportunity and Realize Dreams, the Powerhouse will serve as Belmont’s creative ecosystem, connecting students across disciplines.

Features of the Facility

in the heart of campus

 
  • Performance venue for showcasing student talent
  • Recording-capable spaces extending Music Row onto Belmont’s campus
  • Maker spaces for storyboarding, writing, film, audio, AR/VR, and design projects
  • Dining and collaboration areas that foster community and creativity
Artistic rendering of The Cord Powerhouse
Artistic rendering of The Cord Powerhouse

Vision & Goal

Fundraising Goal

With a $40 million fundraising goal, the Powerhouse will anchor Belmont’s Arts & Design Corridor where students can learn together in an incubator and maker space setting that calls forth the best of their imagination to solve problems. A convening space that will stir ideas, it will serve as connective tissue bringing together students from music and entertainment, art, design and more for interdisciplinary, creative endeavors. In fact, we envision this facility to be a place that cultivates all aspects of storytelling — filmmaking, audio, animation, video, AR, VR, AI and more — and to do so via creative approaches that drive transformation.
Cordia Harrington profile photo with a blue overlay

“This isn’t just about building a facility; it’s about creating an ecosystem where the next generation of leaders from across disciplines can develop the entrepreneurial mindset and innovative spirit needed to make a real difference in our world.”

Cordia Harrington
Founder, CROWN Bakeries; Vice Chair of Belmont’s Board of Trustees; Co-Chair,
Hope Transforms Campaign

Why it Matters

THE POWERHOUSE WILL:

 
  • Equip students to lead across arts, entertainment, business and design
  • Serve as a hub for interdisciplinary problem-solving
  • Cultivate imagination that transforms industries and communities
Student working on digital illustrations using a tablet stylus, with character sketches and designs displayed on both a tablet and desktop screen in a graphic design studio.