By Elizabeth Pierdominici
After years of planning and modifying blueprints, the University began construction Monday of a new state-of-the-art facility for the drama, dance, music and School of Communication departments.
For nearly two decades, the drama department has tripled and the dance department quadrupled in size, James Kolb, chair of the drama and dance departments, said. Because the departments grew so rapidly, they are limited on space, making it difficult to accommodate all the classes.
”It is hard to conduct a dance class, for example, when students are bumping into each other,” Kolb said.
Not only will the new facility alleviate space problems, but it also may attract prospective students and encourage performance attendance, as new programs and faculty members are added.
The new building, which will be located behind Emily Lowe Hall and adjacent to Weed and Adam halls, will provide an environment more conducive to studying the performing arts, Melissa Connolly, assistant vice president for University Relations, said.
The music department will have an acoustically isolated band rehearsal hall that seats 120 people, two breakout rehearsal rooms, an extensive music library and storage facilities. The drama and dance departments will gain a 230-seat black box theater that has a technical balcony, stage, and dressing rooms.
The fourth floor of the building will consist of faculty offices, a seminar room and a small conference room for the Speech Communication, Rhetoric and Performance Studies Department. All departments will continue to utilize their current facilities in addition to the new building.
“In the past, I have joked about using the elevator or closet as an office,” said Sybil DelGaudio, dean of the School of Communication. “These new rooms are necessary for professors to have their own space to complete work, meet and advise students and be more effective overall.”
The University has spent several years in the planning process for the building because of its technical complexities, Connolly said. She estimates that the building will be completed in 18 months.
The construction of any additional parking space on campus to replace the lot taken by the new building will be addressed in the future, as the amount of parking spaces needed for students fluctuates, Connolly said. The remainder of the parking will be reserved for faculty and staff.
As for now, Connolly encourages students and faculty to take advantage of the Blue Beetle service and the new shuttle service that runs from the field by the arena to Breslin Hall and the law school as a convenient tool for transportation.
”The faculty and students from these departments spend much of their time outside of class for rehearsals and performances,” Connolly said. “The building will help them to have a place where they can get all of that accomplished and continue to add variety of life on campus.”
Connolly said the building is funded through a long-term bond issue with the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, which serves as a loan to assist in maintaining the University’s budget for day-to-day operations.
Other renovations and additions still in the works include the construction of new dorms, computer lab expansion, a new Unispan to connect the Netherlands complex to south campus and retrofitting the classrooms to become more technologically advanced while retaining the historical aesthetics of the architecture, Connolly said.