THE PERELMAN QUADRANGLE: Administration excited over Perelman Quad

University administrators are encouraged by preliminary campus reaction to the proposed Perelman Quadrangle student center. "I have heard all positive and no negative," University President Judith Rodin said, describing her experience on campus yesterday. "Many people are eager to see and hear more of the plans, and we have promised we will [do that]." She added that she spent the day in meetings with faculty and staff, including the University Council Steering Committee, while Provost Stanley Chodorow spoke with various campus constituencies about the project. Chodorow said he met primarily with personnel from the College and the School of Arts and Sciences who have a "vital interest" in the Perelman Quad buildings -- especially Logan Hall. Many SAS departments and the College itself were housed there before deferred maintenance began. The present Perelman Quad plans show that once renovated, Logan Hall will provide space for the same offices that had been located there. But its ground floor will be made into an art gallery, multi-purpose auditorium and 150-seat recital hall. Logan Hall will also be connected to Williams Hall in two ways -- underground and through a two-story glass atrium that will contain a 24-hour reading room. "This [project] is to the advantage of the sense of history of these buildings," Chodorow said. "We're going to update them piece by piece." Although Perelman Quad will give student groups more space than the Revlon Center would have provided, Chodorow estimated that only about 25,000 square feet of new space will be created through its three-year construction. The remainder of the space included in the Perelman Quad proposal is either currently-available space that will continue to be used or space that will be "captured" through redesign of existing structures. Roy Vagelos, chairperson of the University's Board of Trustees, said it is important to proceed "gingerly" on the project because its prospective major donor -- University alumnus and Trustee Ronald Perelman -- has not yet committed crucial funds. But according to Vagelos, the Trustees were unanimous in their enthusiasm for the Perelman Quad, which he described as "wonderful." "It expands the space that will be available to students, it is right in the center of the campus, it will bring into sparkling life the historic buildings," Vagelos said. "[And] it's so centrally-located that it's probably more secure than the site that had been on Walnut." The site will also look remarkably different than it does now, Rodin said. Re-landscaping and re-grading of the grounds will bring College Green up to the entrance of Logan Hall, while the Houston Hall patio will be expanded and grass will be planted there. Rodin said the Perelman Quad program "is not engraved in stone." The Philadelphia architectural firm of Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates has submitted schematic drawings and made preliminary recommendations about effective space utilization, though. The topic is on the agenda for next month's University Council meeting.

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