Renovations planned for Bennett Hall

Plans for long overdue renovations to Bennett Hall, the home of the English Department, are underway and part of the $5 million project will include moving the Music Department into the building. Both Bennett and the Music Building -- located next door on 34th Street -- have been pushing for repairs for decades. Bennett is cited in the School of Arts and Sciences' strategic plan as a facility in need of renovations. But as there is not enough money to renovate both facilities, the two departments have to compromise. SAS Dean Samuel Preston said that Penn is currently consulting architectural firms, but a timeline for the renovations has not been set. A feasibility study of combining the two departments has been completed. According to John Richetti, chairman of the English Department, the conditions in Bennett are terrible. "It's a dump. It is an absolute disgrace," Richetti said. In addition to general disrepair, Richetti named street noise as one of the building's major problems. "It's not the shabby offices. It's not the disgraceful bathrooms. It's the acoustics," he said. And Music Department Chairman Gary Tomlinson said that the department's current home is inadequate to meet the department's needs. "The problems are that it is an old and dilapidated building, and not sufficient for our needs," he said. "The practice rooms are positively subterranean [with] frequent flooding, destroyed pianos." Preston also said that many rooms of Bennett are excellent for the Music Department's purposes. "There are spaces in Bennett Hall that are really ideal," Preston said. And professors from both departments seem to welcome the combination. "I'm very enthusiastic about bringing the Music Department in," English professor Peter Stallybrass said. English professor Bob Perelman added that "the connection between the arts is very strong." And Tomlinson agreed, saying that the two departments are natural allies. "We already have very close relations," he said. "Some of my best friends are English professors." However, one concern of bringing the Music Department into Bennett is that it may displace certain elements of the English Department, such as the writing program. But Richetti said that the English Department would stress the importance of keeping at least some aspects of the program located in Bennett. "The English Department will strongly insist that the writing program be kept in the building," he said. Preston said that the University would try to accommodate this wish. "We'd like to see it stay," he said. Preston said that new classrooms are a priority. "It looks like really nice classrooms could be included in the plan," he noted. Tomlinson said that humanities programs have long been neglected as Wharton and the Engineering School have been constantly renovated, but stressed that the current administration is trying very hard to correct this problem. "Humanities facilities at Penn are a long-standing scandal, but it's being really well addressed in recent years," he said. "Judy Rodin and Sam Preston are the first who took [renovation plans] very seriously."