To the editor:
The University’s latest proposal for the location of a performing arts center includes a welcome clarification of what the center is and what it is not. It’s not a competitor to the Providence Performing Arts Center. It is a teaching and learning facility designed primarily for Brown students. It offers a practice and performance venue sized for student performers and audiences far superior to what is currently available at Sayles Hall and Alumnae Hall. That should help allay neighborhood fears of traffic and parking issues.
The new site has an advantage beyond those already described in the Feb. 20 Herald article, “University changes site for performing arts center.” Had it been located between Angell and Waterman streets, the PAC would have been pretty much a stand-alone structure, relating to nothing around it. With Granoff Center for the Creative Arts directly across The Walk, the firm designing the performing arts center, REX Architecture, has been given an opportunity to engage in a conversation with its bold neighbor. How REX engages Granoff opens up the possibility of an outcome that enhances both.
Raymond Rhinehart ’62
