GREENWICH VILLAGE—Anyone who thought that the news about NYU's new plan for the Provincetown Playhouse would please critics might want to start reassessing. The react is will start in earnest after the full plan circulates, but the early verdict is lukewarm. Andrew Berman of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, which has led the campaign to save the Playhouse, called the revision is "a victory for our efforts to prevent NYU from erasing New York's history" and that "agreeing to preserve the existing theater within the new building is a giant victory." Then, the "howevers" start coming, as in, "However, the remainder of the building is still quite historic, and we are still very concerned about any plan that would include demolishing it."
NYU just released new materials regarding its plan for the Provincetown Playhouse building at 133-139 MacDougal Street, and as Lost City reported earlier, the school is indeed veering from its original proposal following some community backlash. The earlier plan called for preservation of the theater's entryway and façade, while knocking the rest down and building a new theater as part of a larger academic building. Now, NYU wants to preserve the structural walls of the historic theater, and build around and over it. "It is that structure and volume that people passionately feel celebrates the history and heritage of the theater," NYU says in its statement. The internal auditorium will be rebuilt, with some "historical features" and pieces of the existing theater (like the seats) including in the new design. Community Board 2 will review the project at a public meeting on May 28. Will the critics be satisfied this time around?
· Today's Provincetown Playhouse Drama: Shove It, NYU [Curbed]
· The Empire Strikes Back: NYU's Playhouse Proposal Revealed [Curbed]
"NYU -- my alma mater -- is addicted to demolition. It is also addicted to prevarication. On the one hand, it publicly promises to exhaust all methods and means of considering structural reuse before hauling out its precious wrecking ball, but here's evidence, as if anyone needed it, that NYU's words yet again stand naked and exposed, meaningless and empty, its promises fatuous and dismissive and blithe and superficial, its ethics and morals gathering dust on a shelf." [Today's Provincetown Playhouse Drama: Shove It, NYU]
The latest shot fired in the sudden war over the Provincetown Playhouse comes from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, whose leader Andrew Berman penned a rebuttal to NYU's proposal to tear down the MacDougal Street building, save and restore some of the façade and build a new academic complex/theater on the spot. In a letter (warning: PDF) to NYU Vice President for Government Relations and Community Engagement Alicia D. Hurley, Berman writes, "I believe that the NYU literature, much like the presentations NYU has made about this plan, tells a story which is far from complete and entirely accurate." Berman's take is that since the current building at 133-139 MacDougal Street underwent a major renovation in the '40s, NYU feels the structure isn't significant and the scraps of façade saved and restored are enough of an effort. Berman counters by arguing that the current incarnation of the playhouse is significant, and stapling on some original details and creating a facsimile of the theater does not a beloved cultural institution make. Expect a lot more back-and-forth on this hot topic in advance of the public hearing on the matter on May 28, which should be a doozy.
· Re: NYU Proposal to Demolish Provincetown Playhouse and Apartments [GVSHP; PDF]
· The Empire Strikes Back: NYU's Playhouse Proposal Revealed [Curbed]
· NYU: We'll Rebuild Playhouse Even Better! [Curbed]
The fate of the historic Provincetown Playhouse at 133 MacDougal Street has turned into a public relations nightmare for NYU. After building up all that goodwill with local preservationists following the non-binding agreement regarding how to sensitively pursue a six-million-square-foot expansion over the next 20 or so years, the school now threatens to piss it all away with the replacing of the beloved Greenwich Village theater. The NYU counter-offensive began this morning, when the school and architect Morris Adjmi explained that the façade would be restored to its original 1930s look, and the new building would be only slightly larger. Now, any second now, NYU will post the full proposal (warning: PDF) on its website, along with a note from Vice President for Government Relations and Community Engagement Alicia D. Hurley that basically says chill out, dudes, because the theater will be rebuilt and the design is super contextual. Seen above is Adjmi's design, but like a good drama, this story cannot be fully told in one act.
The controversy swirling around NYU's plan to demolish and replace the famed Provincetown Playhouse at 133 MacDougal Street in the Village takes a new turn today, as the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the university itself react to the pleas from preservationists to save it. Yesterday, the LPC released a statement that said the building lacked the "historical and architectural integrity required for individual New York City landmark designation." Smackdown! And according to the school and project architect Morris Adjmi, the replacement—which would be used by NYU's law school and include a new theater—would have an exterior even more reminiscent of the theater's '30s look, seen above. The Times reports: "The new building would be three feet higher than the existing one, and six stories rather than five. The canopy would be removed, and the doorway would become more intricate and reminiscent of the building before its 1940s renovation." Your move, preservationists.
· N.Y.U. Plan Threatens Historic Theater [NYT]
· Honeymoon Over: NYU Has Playhouse Fight on its Hands [Curbed]
· NYU Ain't Playing with Provincetown Playhouse [Curbed]
When NYU announced its ambitious 25-year expansion plan, the school's officials reached out to the community and softly whispered sweet nothings in its ear. It was a romance we expected would not outlive the honeymoon phase, and we were right! Ever since news broke last week that NYU intends to demolish the Provincetown Playhouse on MacDougal Street, the story has been picked up all over the place, and now the cavalry has arrived. The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation's Andrew Berman—who not long ago said of NYU's expansion. "it feels like we are getting closer to a mutually agreeable way for the university to move forward on its long-term plans"—is leading the charge to spare the theater that launched the careers of so many legendary playwrights. According to the GSVHP website, Community Board 2 will discuss the Provincetown Playhouse at a public hearing on Wednesday. NYU officials will be there to present the plan, and to take the crowd's heat. Oh my, this could be ugly. Broken hearts don't heal easily.
· Preservation Alert [GVSHP]
· NYU Ain't Playing with Provincetown Playhouse [Curbed]
NYU is planning to demolish the Provincetown Playhouse at 133 MacDougal Street. This was once the artistic home of Eugene O’Neill, Edna St. Vincent Millay, e.e. cummings, and many others. NYU will replace the theater with an office building made of brick with modernist touches. Ironically, just 10 years ago, the university invested close to a million dollars in renovating the theater. L. Jay Oliva, then president of NYU, told the New York Times, “it's a piece of our history. It was a shame to see a piece of our history falling down like that. I think the Village will be happy to see it back in business again.” He had noble plans for the Playhouse, saying, "Being a showcase for new writers is a very Village thing."
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