By Anastasia Tsioutas
A new home to the Department of Drama and Dance is finally making its way onto campus after some unavoidable delays.
According to the winter 2003 Hofstra Update, which was later revised, construction on the new building was expected to have commenced in spring 2003.
“The Provost had said publicly at faculty meetings that it will be built,” Professor James Kolb, chair of the Department of Drama and Dance, said. “There were some inevitable delays that occurred that prevented it from being started this spring, but the impression I have is the Provost is anxious to get it started.”
Richard Guardino, the vice president for business development and executive dean, said it has taken some time to design the building due to some technical issues.
He said the University wants to be very cautious and careful in terms of design and wants to make sure they build a quality product.
There are two possible sites that are being reviewed by contractors for the new theatre. The first site is parking lot 4B, located between Emily Lowe Hall and Adams Playhouse. The second site is parking lot 3, which is adjacent to parking lot 4B and facing Adams Hall and Weed Hall.
The plans and drawings for the new theatre have been put up for bidding; the best bidder will become the contractor. After a contractor is chosen, ground is expected to be broken in spring of 2005 and will take approximately 18 months for completion, Guardino said.
“I am very glad that we are getting new space for the drama and dance department because it will allow the students to have more spaces to rehearse in,” Dana Panepinto, a senior B.F.A. major, said. “The new theatre will also give us more studio space to hold classes, which is something there isn’t enough of now.”
Alessandra Sumowicz, the director of campus planning, design and construction, said the plans are still out for hard bid.
“We are anxious to see what bids we will get,” Guardino said.
The new theatre will replace the West End Theatre. It will be approximately a 230-seat black box theatre with a rehearsal hall, scene shop and offices for dance, drama and music departments.
“We continue to grow as a program. We now have 184 majors in drama, 84 in dance,” Kolb said. “So our majors are getting larger, classes as a result are getting larger. This will be a good space when we get it.”
Due to limited space in the West End Theatre, only 130 seats were available for audience members. The new theatre will be able to accommodate a much larger audience and its high ceilings will allow for more performance possibilities.
“The West End Theatre, which is where the majority of our department shows take place, is very small and can limit the department in its choice of shows,” Panepinto said. “Having a bigger space will allow not only for larger casts, but also will remove a lot of problems that working in a small black box can involve.”
Dance students currently have only one main studio to practice in, which is located on the second floor of Dempster Hall.
“The space [studio] is nice, but with the growing amount of majors we need more studios,” Daisha Graf, a sophomore dance major, said. “It’s hard on everyone to have over a hundred people that all have to use one major room.”