Students in the Department of Speech and Theatre can expect big changes next semester for Tucker Theatre as facility undergoes renovations beginning in March 2010 to improve compliance with ADA standards for accessible design.
Renovations are scheduled to be completed in early August 2010, in time for the start of the fall semester.
President Sydney McPhee started talks with theater manager Justin Durham last year to appropriate funds to the department and begin making needed changes to the theater. Once the stimulus money was approved through the state budget, Durham got the phone call he’d been hoping for in July to go ahead with the project.
“Once the money was there, talks could begin with the dean’s office and the provost office,” Durham said.
About $1.4 million is budgeted for the project, according to Jeff Gibson, director of Tucker Theatre. Plans for the theater include refurbishing the original seating, which has been in place since 1964, redesigning the main lobby, increasing square footage and creating a new space for the box office.
The main purpose behind the renovations, however, is to bring the theater up to ADA codes, providing wheelchair accessible ramps up to entrance as well as improving accessibility to control areas in the theater.
Restrooms will also be updated, including the installation of a family restroom to meet ADA requirements.
Durham said he thinks the impact of the project will be two-fold.
“On an academic side, for our disabled students, accessibility will be so much easier,” Durham said. “People think of [Tucker Theatre] as rundown. They will want to see the updates after the renovations. It’s an opportunity to grab our patrons and keep them coming back.”
Gibson said he thinks that the timing of the project will work out for the best and the project should have minimal impact on students’ abilities to perform.
“This is the time to do it,” he said. “I’m extremely ecstatic for the renovation.”
Two performances are scheduled for the department after renovations begin, but Gibson sees the challenge as a learning experience for the students.
“Appalachian Roots,” a play written by students, is scheduled to begin touring to local elementary schools in April, according to Gibson. Without the use of Tucker, he said he’s hopeful the actors might be able to perform on campus in the Alumni Memorial Gym.
Durham said he thinks touring the show locally will give the students valuable learning experience in repeatedly setting up and tearing down a show, preparing them for a tour of the show in Ireland beginning in May.
The other affected performance is the Spring Dance Show. The dance is now being planned as a “found-space performance,” Gibson said. “It’s a sort of avant-garde idea; you don’t have to have a theatre space to perform.”
Though Gibson and Durham said they are still exploring options, one possible location for the dance show may be the tennis courts or another type of athletic space.
Neither performance has yet to be cast.
Theater undergoes renovations
Two scheduled shows misplaced by construction
Published: Thursday, October 29, 2009
Updated: Thursday, October 29, 2009
Be the first to comment on this article!