Provost to review now Revlon plans

A new design plan for the Revlon Center could be ready for Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson's review as early as next week, Vice President for Facilities Arthur Gravina said Tuesday. And preliminary data indicates that the center will cost between $20 and $25 million lower than its initial price tag of $65 million. The move follows Lazerson's call for the center's review in October when he said construction and operating costs for the center were too high. "We could not in good conscience go ahead with the costs as outlined," Lazerson said in October, after a meeting with student leaders where he explained his decision. Gravina said the price tag for the center would be between $40 and $45 million in his plan. "We will be trying to give the provost and president as much as we can [in order to make a decision about the center]," he said. Executive Assistant to the Provost Linda Koons said yesterday that "new ideas have been floated" to Lazerson in the past two weeks. She added that the provost hopes to see final design plans before the end of the month. The University's earliest predictions suggested that the center, which will be built at 34th and Walnut streets, would open by 1994. The latest indications have placed its opening in 1996. According to Koons, Lazerson objected to to more than just the cost of the Revlon Center. She said Lazerson thought initial versions of the design left out important facilities for students that he feels are necessary for the center. One of the first proposed plans for the center did not include some of the performing art facilities, such as the Black Box theatre and an auditorium, Koons said. "The provost insisted that [the theatres be back in]," she added. Gravina indicated that the facilities for performing art groups will be included in the latest design plan. He also said his office is aware of the fact that decreasing the size of the theatres could limit their effectiveness. "Concerning the auditorium and Black Box theatre, to reduce them in scope could jeopardize their usefulness," Gravina said. Gravina would not comment further about specific plans for the center, except to say that there will be space for all the programs that were included in the initial plans. He added, though, that as a result of cost cutting measures, there would have to be "minimal amount" of space for each program. Gravina said deciding how much space in the center will be allocated to each program would be a "question of priority."