Skidmore clearing music center site

Reprinted with permission from the Daily Gazette, August 14, 2007

By Lee Coleman

The site has been cleared for the $32 million Arthur Zankel Music Center on the Skidmore College campus off North Broadway and work on the building itself could start as early as this fall, college officials said Monday.

	Architect's drawing of the planned Zankel Music Center

The 52,000-square-foot music center, which will feature a 700-seat recital hall, will be located directly across an interior campus road from the college's Filene Music Building.

The space had formerly been a parking lot for the Filene building. A new parking lot was built this summer on the other side of the relocated campus loop road.

The music center, named for former Skidmore trustee, the late Arthur Zankel, will be one of the first buildings a visitor sees when driving in from the college's main entrance off North Broadway.

"They want to get the site work done before students arrive on campus and before winter," said Dan Forbush, the college's new communications director.

The site work also includes installation of utilities such as gas, electric, telecommunications and sewer systems. A new storm retention pond has been added to the site along with a new storm drainage system.

However, the college's board of trustees has not yet authorized the actual construction of the building.

Tracy Barlok, the leader of the college's $200 million "Creative Thought, Bold Promise" fundraising campaign, said Monday the start of construction depends on the success of the college's ongoing campaign.

"I'd love to see it started this year," Barlok said about construction of the music center. She said college officials hope to raise the remaining money for the music center over the next two to three months "so we can move forward with construction."

The music center construction cost will be between $30 million and $32 million. The college is also raising another $8 million to $12 million as an endowment fund for the building, Barlok said.

The estate of the late Arthur Zankel, who died in 2005, donated $42 million to the private liberal arts college of 2,400 students.

Some $15 million of this Zankel money was dedicated to the new music center project. Since that time the college's has been raising money toward the $42 million required for the center's construction and endowment.

Barlok said the college has raised $138 million toward its ongoing $200 million fundraising campaign goal. She said the college is getting closer to its fundraising goal necessary for the Zankel Music Center to be started.

Thomas Denny, chairman of the Skidmore music department, said the college's Filene Music Building is bursting at its seams.

The Filene Music Building was opened in 1967, not long after Skidmore moved from its downtown Saratoga Springs campus, to its then-new North Broadway campus.

"Space is a huge issue," Denny said about the reason the Zankel Music Center is being built. "The new building will be a huge improvement."

He said the number of music majors at Skidmore has doubled over the past 25 years. The sizes of the college orchestra, jazz ensemble, chamber music and choral groups have also grown substantially over the past 40 years.

When the Filene building opened in 1967, the college music department had just eight people on its faculty. Today there are nearly 40 music faculty members.

Denny said the Filene recital hall seats just 240 people. He said when nationally known musicians have visited Skidmore, the college has not been able to publicize their concerts and performances because the recital hall would not accommodate a large audience.

When the new Zankel Music Center opens, the music department will have the practice rooms and classroom space the department requires. The main concert hall in the new building will be much more available for guest artists and for use by the various student ensembles, Denny said.

Denny said the new recital hall is also expected to have state-of-the-art acoustics. He said a great deal of attention has been paid by the architects to make the recital hall one of the premier performance halls in the greater Capital Region.

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2007 the Daily Gazette