New church will house student arts

But PAC chair concerned that space is too big Performing arts groups will finally have a home at the University, in the form of the First Church of Christ Scientist at 4013 Walnut Street, University President Judith Rodin announced yesterday. But Performing Arts Council Chairperson Pat Ede, a Wharton and Engineering senior, said said he is concerned that the church's 1,200-seat sanctuary may be too big for some of the University's performing arts groups. And the pews that are currently installed for audience members do not represent the best possible seating arrangement, he said. "I'm not going to be too picky in the short run, but it's no Zellerbach," he said. Still, Ede said he is reserving judgement on the space as a whole, as he has yet to see the church's interior. "Any additional space would be helpful, but whether it will be actually be useful as a performance space remains to be seen," he said. Last week, Mary Epstein, the church's congregation president, said that in 1987 an acoustical consulting firm concluded that the church would be well suited to house performing arts. Rodin said that within the next week, she will form a "large-scale committee" of students and other members of the University community who have an interest in the arts to decide how best to allocate space within the church and the eagerly awaited Perelman Quadrangle. The students will probably be selected by the Nominations and Elections Committee and PAC, she said. The number of students that will serve on the committee has not yet been determined. Rodin said the committee will address two central concerns -- how to best accommodate the arts while work on Perelman Quad progresses, and how to integrate the arts with other kinds of campus activities. On its second floor, for example, the church has offices that could be converted to meeting rooms or rehearsal space for student groups. But, said Rodin, "the basement needs work." She said the University plans to put off as many renovations as possible until the summer. "We'd rather have it accessible for students to use," she said. Rodin said she does not want the church to become the only "hub" of performing arts on campus. "That's why I want a committee, because this is the time to really think about it strategically," she explained. "Knowing that we have Perelman now, how are we going to in the short-term serve the community?" According to Rodin, the University needs the space in both the church and the Perelman Quad to make its performing arts facilities truly "first rate." In addition, she said, safety on Walnut Street between 40th and 41st streets -- an issue of particular concern to members of the six Greek groups with houses on that block -- may increase with additional student usage of the church. The committee that Rodin will appoint next week will also work with the Council of Undergraduate Deans to implement ideas about the arts on campus generated by the 21st Century Project on the Undergraduate Experience.

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