PAC slams church site

Chair calls space 'useless' The interior of the First Church of Christ Scientist on Walnut Street will not be suitable for most performing arts purposes, members of the University's arts community said last night. "The performance space is absolutely useless to us," said Performing Arts Council Chairperson Pat Ede, who viewed the site along with 20 other PAC members last night. "Our conclusion is basically if it's anything involving more than one instrument or one voice, the acoustics are just too muddy." University President Judith Rodin announced earlier this month that the University is purchasing the church with the intention of transforming it into a performing arts facility. Though generally dissatisfied, Ede said the church may not be a total loss. There is an area available behind the sanctuary that would work well as office space or rehearsal rooms, and there are 10 to 12 rooms on the church's lower level that could serve as offices. Ede, a Wharton and Engineering senior, added that the sanctuary's high, domed ceilings create a disturbing echo that would mar most vocal performances. Acoustical enhancement devices would help, he said, but they represent an expensive proposition. "No one should consider [the church] a solution to our problems," Ede said. In his view, a cappella groups in particular would probably find using the new space "out of the question." Still, the space on the church's ground floor could be used for storage of costumes or props, he said. One area inside the church is large enough to house the scenery shop now located in the basement of Irvine Auditorium. But Ede said he would not advocate such a plan because that space would then be unavailable for other activities. Plans for the Perelman Quadrangle assume that the basement of Irvine will be available for use and may necessitate moving scenery shop, Ede added. For this reason, Ede advocates the purchase of the Eric 3 movie theater on 40th Street. He said he believes that problems with the technical aspects of student productions will continue with or without the availability of space in the Perelman Quad. "A cappella [groups] can rehearse in someone's living room," he explained. But the arrangements theater groups require, because of their props and scenery, are more complicated. Office of Student Life Activities and Facilities Director Fran Walker was also on the tour. She said the area behind the sanctuary is a "lovely," well-maintained, carpeted space that could seat up to 125 people for an intimate performance. Walker added that although the building was designed as a church, and therefore best suited for one person preaching from an elevated altar, "it fills some of the needs that student performing arts groups have, and in that sense it's certainly better than what we have now." Annenberg Center Lighting Coordinator Robert Drago, who works with a number of the 33 PAC groups, saw the church yesterday as well. He was more optimistic about the new space. "It is gorgeous and with some modifications can possibly be made into a performance space," he said. "There are people out there that are trained to turn practically anything into a theater, and they have, and they'd be able to work with what the space is."

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