The Cowles Center was developed as an incubation project by Artspace Projects, Inc and includes the refurbished 500-seat Goodale Theater (formerly the Sam S. Shubert Theater); the Hennepin Center for the Arts, home to 20 leading dance and performing arts organizations; a state-of-the-art education studio housing a distance learning program; and an atrium connecting the buildings.

Using IP videoconferencing technologies, it brings artists into classrooms throughout Minnesota, nationally and internationally, creating two-way interactive, real-time teaching environments.

The front of the building had a Classical Revival façade featuring four pairs of bas-relief columns framing three arched windows at the second-story level.

Some of the best known strip-tease artists of the day including Tempest Storm, Candy Barr, and Gypsy Rose Lee performed there.

One of the most noteworthy of these performers was Dudley Riggs, a comedian juggler who went on to found Brave New Workshop, now housed only a few blocks from The Cowles Center.

In November 1953, the Alvin underwent yet another change when the Reverend Russell H. Olson turned the building into the Minneapolis Evangelistic Auditorium.

On July 12, 1957, The Academy hosted the Minneapolis premiere of Minnesota native Michael Todd's Around the World in Eighty Days.

The Academy began to struggle as suburban multiplexes replaced single-screen houses, and 1983 brought yet another closing of the theater's doors.

In 1990, the Heritage Preservation Commission convinced city officials not to demolish the Shubert unless it proved prohibitively expensive to develop Block E with the theater in place.

Artspace Vice President Tom Nordyke had the idea to move the Shubert out of the way, solving the issue in a way that benefited preservationists, developers, and the arts community.

At 5.8 million pounds, it was the heaviest building ever moved on rubber tires, and holds a Guinness World Record for this accomplishment.

Floors throughout the backstage area are covered with a special linoleum that allows ballet performers to walk from dressing rooms to the stage without removing their toe shoes.

Using video conferencing technology, the center brings artists into classrooms to create two-way, interactive, real-time teaching environments.

The Cowles Center inaugural season spanned the fall of 2011 and the spring of 2012 and brought a variety of Minnesota dance companies to the same venue.