After touring them, Denney selected the temple building and in May 1971 the final plans for HSPVA were presented to the school board.

[9] In the 1990s, there was a proposal to move HSPVA to the Bob R. Casey Federal Building in Downtown Houston.

[11] HISD later proposed moving the school near the Gregory-Lincoln Education Center in Houston's Freedmen's Town Historical District in the Fourth Ward.

HISD officials agreed to pursue a relocation at that time as Friends of HSPVA agreed to raise about 50% of a projected $30 million cost to develop a new site; otherwise HISD officials were reluctant to promote building a new HSPVA when there were schools with campuses in much worse repair.

[9] The Fourth Ward building would have included a 2000+ seat state-of-the-art theater, updated facilities and possibly a recording studio.

[citation needed] Construction was temporarily delayed due to the discovery of a possible American Civil War-era cemetery.

[13] On October 13, 2016, the Houston Independent School District Board of Trustees voted 7 to 2 to accept a naming rights contract from the Kinder Foundation for a $7.5 million for capital improvements to the new facility.

The Kinder funds provide primarily upgrades to theater equipment and some performance spaces, such as outfitting the mini-theater.

[20] In January 2019, HSPVA moved from its Montrose campus to the downtown site at 790 Austin Street.

As of 2014[update], many students practiced their creative arts in the school hallway due to the small size of the campus.

Students sometimes traveled to area cafes and restaurants after the official end of the school day but before additional rehearsals.