Addams Arts Hall to be built

Will house galleries The legacy of cartoonist Charles Addams -- a University alumnus and creator of the creepy, kooky television family of the same name -- will soon be a permanent presence on campus thanks to a gift by his former wife, Lady Colyton. Lady Colyton has donated an undisclosed sum to fund the renovation and rehabilitation of the Asbury Methodist Church, located on Chestnut Street between 33rd and 34th streets, University spokesperson Barbara Beck said yesterday. Upon completion, the site will be renamed the Charles Addams Fine Arts Hall. According to Malcolm Campbell, the interim dean of the Graduate School of Fine Arts, the new facility should be ready for use in 1997, with an annex to be added behind the main building after the first phase of restoration is finished. In a statement released yesterday, Colyton said Addams -- who received a fine arts degree from the University in 1934 -- would have loved the church, which will memorialize his contributions to the "field of graphic art." It is said that Addams modeled the mansion in his Addams Family cartoons after College Hall. Addams Hall will provide studio, classroom and gallery space for both undergraduates and graduate students, replacing the Morgan Building -- which is slated to be demolished during construction of the Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Undergraduate fine arts instruction that currently takes place in the "blau haus," the blue shed near Hill Field built four or five years ago as a temporary structure, will also be moved to Addams Hall. "This is the first time in a long time the Fine Arts department will have a single, unitary home," Campbell said, adding that students and faculty are excited about the church's architectural possibilities. "It really will mark a fresh start in the arts at Penn -- you could almost use the word Renaissance." Although cleanup of the building has already started, the design process is just beginning, Campbell said. A committee has been formed to make decisions on how to allocate space in the new center. Cost estimates for the project, however, are not yet available. Following Addams' death in 1988, Lady Colyton endowed the Charles Addams Memorial Prize at the University. The $10,000 award is given annually to an outstanding student in the School of Fine Arts. Lady Colyton, who was formerly known as Barbara Barb, is now married to The Right Honorable Lord Colyton, a diplomat who served under former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Lord Colyton is a descendant of Francis Hopkinson, who was a member of the University's first graduating class in 1757.