Arts students, officials back U. plan

While the fate of the Arts and Transit Neighborhood hangs in the balance as University and local officials continue negotiations over zoning and the proposed relocation of the Dinky, Lewis Center for the Arts students and faculty say they are still hoping for the construction of the new facilities.

“After four years — and I live in New York so I use the Dinky all the time — I don’t see the big issue with this moving of the Dinky,” said Kadeem Gill ’11, former president of the Performing Arts Council and a member of DiSiac. The Performing Arts Council includes more than 25 theater and dance groups among its members, including DiSiac.

Plans for the construction of the Arts and Transit Neighborhood were stalled after community members continued to voice opposition to the Dinky’s relocation, which the administration viewed as non-negotiable, at a town meeting on Feb. 1. Ten days later, the University, the Borough Council and the Township Committee were back in discussion as to how the project could still move forward.

Some see the construction of the neighborhood as a way to retain the Dinky’s presence in the campus area in the wake of speculation over whether it is still financially viable.

“I know that there are issues with New Jersey Transit’s thinking whether or not the Dinky would be profitable,” said Risa Reid ’12, a DiSiac member and the Council’s current co-president. “I feel like building this new community and neighborhood would be bringing in revenue and profit ... and New Jersey Transit would be more invested in keeping the station near campus.”

Reid also noted that the move would only be 460 feet, which she said was not enough to warrant a halt to the project.

Currently, New South Building houses some new arts facilities, but they are separated by the breadth of Princeton’s campus from the still-active Lewis Center at 185 Nassau Street.

“I’m in two different dance classes and I have to walk over all the way from … the Lewis Center to New South, and I have 10 minutes,” Gill said of the inconvenience, noting that the problem is the same for the administrators and professors.

While removed from the rest of the arts community, New South’s development has highlighted the importance of more room for the arts. “We have a lot of good spaces but could have better spaces,” said Tracy Bersley, a lecturer in the theater program.

She noted that there are currently only two major spaces for theater groups to perform, and that “there’s a lot of sharing spaces,” which sometimes proves cumbersome.

The new facilities are needed not only for the Lewis Center’s endeavors, she said, but for the opportunities students hope they could provide for their performance groups.

“[Before the halt in construction] the Arts Council was in the process of formulating a letter basically asking the Lewis arts administration to consider the performing arts student groups in the construction of the arts neighborhood,” Gill explained. “Right now, there’s a severe shortage in resources and space for all of the groups we manage.”

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Though the creation of the new facilities has currently reached a standstill, Reid said the Council is still in the process of drafting the letter on behalf of student groups.

“We’re trying to gather actual data and evidence to show how many rehearsal hours each group wants and how many hours the space actually allows,” she explained.

As of now, she noted, groups are relegated to performing in spaces ill-suited to their needs — such as Richardson Auditorium and the Frist Film/Performance Theatre — which lack the backstage facilities most groups require.

The value of the neighborhood could also reach beyond the simple increase in space for practice and performance. “It will attract more students interested in the arts world,” Bersley added.

Students and administrators also see growth in the arts programs as likely should the plans go through. Students have shown particular interest in the expansion of what are currently Lewis Center programs into departments with their own concentrations.

“There are so many students here who wish they could expand into their own departments,” Gill said. “I’m a psychology major, but if there was a dance major, I would be a dance major.”

Bersley, too, noted that the improvements the Lewis Center’s expansion could bring to the arts programs. The theater program is currently “beautifully haphazard,” she said, but having more facilities and programs could allow for a more directed approach to obtaining a certificate.

Still, Bersley recognized that the issue was a complex one. “It’s an exciting possibility but I also understand the town’s concerns,” she said. “We’ve survived without it.”

Bersley said completing the plan is a matter of improving a program that is good but has room for growth.

“The program is in great shape, but [with the addition] it could be in much better shape,” she noted.