When Tawes Fine Arts Building closes for renovation in July, the School of Music and various performing groups will be forced to look elsewhere for performance space.
Tawes Theatre, Ulrich Recital Hall, as well as a the black box Experimental Theater will be closed along with much of the rest of the building during the projected 18 to 24 month renovation, said Lori Owen, director of facilities in the College of Arts and Humanities.
Tawes was built in the 1960s, she said, well before the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed. The building does not comply with the code, primarily measured by wheelchair accessibility to entrances, restrooms and drinking fountains.
However, when a building is renovated, the entire building must be up to code, explained Susie Farr, executive director of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. Because it is too expensive to renovate Tawes Theatre, it will be locked up indefinitely.
“The renovation is definitely something that needs to happen,” said William Parker, director of operations and engineering at UMTV, the university’s television station, which is housed in Tawes. Parker said UMTV will continue to operate in Tawes for the first phase of the renovation, but will have to relocate to the journalism building temporarily during the second phase.
Tawes Theatre, while no longer used by the Department of Theatre, is the primary performance venue for several student-run theater groups.
“It’s the only outlet not controlled by the theatre department,” said theatre and music double major Sam McMenamin.
The Weekday Players, which puts on one or two full productions per semester, may seek sponsorship from the theatre department so it can use performance space in Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, said co-director Jason Schlafstein.
The annual production of “The Vagina Monologues” will have its last performance in Tawes Theatre next spring.
“It’s frustrating that Tawes is closing,” said Vagina Monologues co-director Jen Bandzwolek, who is considering housing the show in Hoff Theater in the Stamp Student Union in the future. While cheaper to rent, Hoff has fewer lighting options and no actual backstage area, she said.
Tawes Theatre is also home of the Classics department’s annual Latin Day, an outreach program that brings in area schools to participate in skits and competitions every fall, said Classics professor Lillian Doherty. While CSPAC will likely be next year’s option, none of the performance halls there will be quite like Tawes.
Tawes Theatre holds up to 1,300 people, while the largest theater in CSPAC, Kay Theatre, only holds 650. The space for dressing rooms is also much smaller, Doherty said.
The School of Music uses Ulrich Recital Hall for approximately 40 percent of the 200 students doing degree recitals each year, said Mike Sparrow, assistant director of operations in the music school. Degree recitals are a requirement of all music students.
The primary way of dealing with the crunch will be to schedule more recitals in CSPAC’s Gildenhorn Recital Hall, where about 60 percent of degree recitals are already performed, Sparrow said.
“There are a lot of logistics to work out,” he said. “But it’s not as bas as we first predicted.”
Contact reporter Ellie Falaris at newsdesk@dbk.umd.edu.
