Revlon Center plans may become a reality

If everything had gone according to the original plan, the Revlon Campus Center would now be standing at 36th and Walnut streets. But, anyone who passes by the intersection of the two streets will see nothing that resembles the Center. Instead, what they will find is a slush-covered parking lot -- and no construction. Last semester Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson said the cost of the Revlon Center, estimated at more than $60 million, was too high. As a result, Lazerson had Vice President for Facilities Management Arthur Gravina go back to the drawing board and try to come up with sized-down design plans that would cost $40 to $45 million. This most recent move followed almost three years of delays which witnessed further setbacks and postponements for the Center's opening from 1993 to 1996. In the last month, Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson and acting Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum have taken concrete steps to ensure the dream of a Revlon Center will soon become a reality. Lazerson and McCoullum met with the original Revlon Program Committee, members of the Undergraduate Assembly and a variety of undergraduate, graduate and professional student leaders in the past two weeks to discuss program options for the Center. According to McCoullum, three program plans are currently being discussed for the center. After deciding on the best plan, Lazerson is likely to recommend it to the University Board of Trustees before semester's end. In the first plan, student services and facilities would be left intact, while The Book Store would be moved out of the Center into a freestanding building of its own. This project would be financed separately from the Center. If this plan is enacted, The Book Store, currently located at 38th Street and Locust Walk, would be demolished. The present Book Store site could then be used for new facilities or residences. A second plan would include a small book store in the Center and scaled down student facilities. In both of these plans, the cost of the Center would be about $45 million. The final plan, one that McCoullum said has just been formulated this week, would cost $40 million. Under this plan, some of the programs in the Center would face cuts in space. The Book Store would also be built outside of the Center in this plan. However, the building would not be constructed at the same time as the Revlon Center, as is slated in the first plan. In all three plans, fixed area spaces, such as the Auditorium and the Black Box Theatre are included. According to design plans for the Center, the Auditorium would encompass 3,645 square feet and the Black Box Theatre would take up 3,728 square feet. Scalable spaces that might have to be reconfigured in the $40 million plan include a food court area, a 24-hour study lounge, student meeting rooms and offices for student organizations such as Penn Student Agencies and the University Student Federal Credit Union. Student leaders who have met with Lazerson and McCoullum have said that certain program spaces need to be in the Center in order for it to be effective. "I think the lounge and 24-hour study spaces are considered the most important spaces," said Jonathan Pitt, outgoing chairperson of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education. And the idea of having not one, but two, major new facilities built as part of the Revlon project has excited University officials. Terms such as "the Revlon precinct," "Revlon neighborhood" and "enhanced northern campus area" have been used by officials to describe what the campus north of Walnut Street could look like in the future. Regardless of the jargon used to describe the project, the fact still remains that at least $10 million in donations and gifts must be raised in order for the Revlon Center to be built. And a separate Book Store would cost even more money. Virginia Clark, vice president for development and alumni relations, said recently that once design plans are finalized, a chief fundraiser for the project will be appointed. At the present time, the Center is the beneficiary of a $10 million donation from Revlon Chief Executive Officer and University alumnus Ron Perlman. The Classes of 1966 and 1967 have also pledged to contribute a combined total of $1.5 million to the Center, Clark said. A freestanding Book Store would probably be financed more by corporate sponsorships than alumni donations, she added. McCoullum said the process of narrowing down the design options to one final choice will be made soon, adding that the essential question still remains how to fund the project. And while the desire to provide the University with a new center for student life has been expressed by administrators, the more important issue now is whether the University can afford to build the Center. "I'm for anything that will 'rev up' things in a fiscally responsible way," McCoullum said.