BRITTANY PERRY
Special to The Leader
The Fredonia campus has been in a constant state of change and re-construction for the past few years, with the most recent additions being made to the Rockefeller Arts Center (RAC). This has left many wondering what is in store for its current and future students.
Construction began in May 2014, due to programmatic academic changes and increased student enrollment in recent years. The addition will encompass approximately 40,000 square feet — almost the length of one football field — of teaching space and faculty offices that will be spread throughout a two-story addition and renovation of existing spaces.
“This project will allow Fredonia to serve all of our arts students well into the future,” said Dr. Ralph Blasting, the dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. “The dance program now has one studio in Dods; they will come ‘home’ to Rockefeller. Same for animation and illustration. Theater students will have much better acting classrooms and scene-building facilities, and art students will have bigger, more efficient studios.”
The ground level of the new center will have all new art studios for “heavy” work: ceramics, sculpture, metalwork, woodwork and plaster. That level will also include a new paint area for theatrical scenery, a 50-seat classroom and an FSA café. The upper level will have three dance studios, including one that will be big enough for public performances, two acting classrooms and faculty offices.
“When the new areas are finished, we will be renovating much of the current building to bring the art department animation and illustration computer labs over from McEwen into Rockefeller. We will expand the computer design labs for theater, and improve a lot of the other offices and classrooms,” Blasting said. “Finally, there will be a covered connecting walkway between Rockefeller and Mason, so that students can move from one end of our arts complex to the other without taking their instruments or materials outside. It’s really a major expansion to the building and very, very exciting.”
The planning for Rockefeller’s new infrastructure began in 2009, and it was designed by architectural firm Debra Berke Partners of New York City.
The final design grew from numerous preliminary proposals presented by the architects.
“Most notable considerations included meeting as many of the needs that users required of their specific spaces. A reasonable balance between design concept, programmatic needs and budget were among the main considerations,” said RAC Project Shepherd Steve Rees. “There was also a need to address the fact that the building needs to serve public functions in addition to academic requirements.”
Developers also considered aesthetic factors when creating a plan for the new additions. They wanted the design of the new structures to “fit in” with the rest of the campus, as well as pay homage to the classic mid-century I. M. Pei design and style of the existing structure.
“You will see echoes of the board-formed concrete surfaces on certain walls and you will see a relation between the window shapes found in Thompson Hall and Mason Hall,” Rees continued. “Not the least of the factors was movement to and through the building, which needs to handle large numbers of students at class changes, members of the public passing through to get to performance venues, and the need for large artworks and theatrical scenery to move easily from one point to another.”
While the new Arts Center will prove to be beneficial to students and faculty in the future, many say the construction has been a hindrance.
“It’s harder to get to some of the classrooms because a whole staircase is taken out, so that’s kind of a pain,” said senior graphic design major Kate Johnson. “My biggest problem is being late to class now, since I have to go all the way around the building just to get there.”
Ideally, the renovations of the current RAC classrooms and studios will not commence until classes are moved into the addition in January 2016. However, there will be some disruption to classes on the third floor of the existing building during the second floor renovations. A surge space location for those classes has not been formalized yet — these are locations where displaced classes go to when the scheduled room becomes unavailable.
“If we get deliveries — say a pallet of bags of raw clay — the delivery has to come to Facilities, and they coordinate with the construction crew to have the delivery brought to the area just inside the loading dock,” said Peter Tucker, assistant professor in the Visual Arts and New Media Department. “We tried to anticipate issues and had as much materials as we could store brought into the building before construction began. We couldn’t get this load of dry clay delivered before construction began, but we tried. That said, I am truly excited about the new addition — so any inconveniences are well worth it to me.”
The budget for the project is approximately $39 million and is funded through the SUNY construction fund, which is paid for by tax dollars, not tuition costs.
These additions to the Rockefeller Arts Center will be located on the west side of the existing building; it will completely fill the space where the RAC parking lot was, as well as the landscaped area to the south of that lot. New handicapped parking spaces will also be located across University Drive in a reconfigured parking area facing the new structure.
The building addition is scheduled for substantial completion and occupancy by January of 2016, with substantial completion of the renovated portions of the project due by August of 2016.
“The public will be blown away by the upgrade to the arts complex,” Blasting said. “This will absolutely draw more prospective students, which will allow us to remain as selective as we are. All of our arts programs are recruiting and retaining students very well. This addition will be another step towards Fredonia being recognized as the arts campus of the SUNY system.”