Caine College of the Arts announces plans to renovate facilities

The Caine College of the Arts facilities are about to undergo a major transformation, and Utah State University students and faculty have a say in what will happen, said Craig Jessop, dean of the Caine College of the Arts.

In a meeting in the Performance Hall on Wednesday, Jessop announced that the college has hired an architectural firm, Sparano + Mooney Architects, to begin the process of renovating and expanding the Caine College of the Arts facilities.

The firm, however, came into the process with no specific plans for renovations. Architects are looking to students and faculty to speak up about how the facilities can better suit their needs.

“We want this building to be a reflection of who you are,” said Anne Mooney, one of the architects.

The college plans to renovate several facilities, including but not limited to Kent Concert Hall, Tippets Art Gallery, the theater department, the scene shop behind Morgan Theater, several building lobbies, the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Center courtyard and the Performance Hall. Jessop said there are also plans to add a new expansion west of the FAC, which would include classrooms, practice rooms, studio offices, administrative offices and an advising center.

John Sparano, one of the architects, said faculty members of each department have submitted their “wish lists” of what they ideally want to see changed in each area, but they need to have conversations as a college to decide which renovations are the most important.

In order to invite conversation, the college will hold workshops to discuss the necessary changes to each individual area. Jessop said the workshops will begin after spring break and are open to anyone who wants to attend. They will be announced to students and faculty through emails from Production Services.

Samuel Wright, USUSA arts senator, said it is very important for students to attend the workshops — so important that students should be willing to miss class to attend them.

“Read the emails from the college,” Wright said. “Do not take a passive role. I think it would be okay for a student to skip one class period in order to attend a process that will affect students 30, 40, 50 years from now. It would be nearsighted for professors to penalize students who want to get involved with the building process.”

Wright said some of the biggest student concerns stem from limited practice and studio space and a lack of windows in the FAC. He believes these concerns will be addressed in the process.

“The architects spoke to me personally and said they’re very interested in getting students involved,” Wright said.

If students can’t attend the meetings for any reason, Wright said they should speak to him about their concerns.

“I’m the one who is required to sit in on these meetings,” he said. “If they can’t make it, they need to talk to me. If they don’t do that, they do not have a right to complain because they weren’t involved in the process.”

Although there have been many suggestions for changes that could be made, Jessop said students and faculty should know that “not everyone will get everything.”

“I think, ultimately, some hard decisions will be made at the end, and the buck will probably stop here,” he said. “But I won’t make the decision in a vacuum. I can promise you that it will be an open, transparent discussion.”

Once students and faculty speak up about what they need and want to see in the renovations, Sparano said his firm will come up with a plan that can be completed on the college’s budget.

Approximately $18 million have been accumulated for the renovation so far, Jessop said.

Lynn Thomas, head of Production Services, said some funds have come from the university, but most of the budget has been gifted by donors. Joyce Albrecht, wife of USU President Stan Albrecht, has raised between $14 and $16 million dollars by asking donors for help, Thomas said, and she “intends to raise more.”

The timeline for the construction is unknown, but Thomas said it will be decided in mid-April once the programming phase has been completed.

The construction process has been estimated to take about 18 months.

— melmo12@gmail.com