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Fulton
St. Arts Complex, Tower Proposed
by Ronald Drenger
When it comes to new arts projects Downtown, most of the public's attention
has been focused on plans for the cultural complex at the World Trade Center
site.
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More quietly, a group of architects, arts organizations and city
officials are pursuing a plan to create a 60,000-square-foot arts
center four blocks east on Fulton Street. The "Incubator Project,"
as it is called, would include two theaters, with 99 and 199 seats,
for plays, films and concerts; about 20,000 square feet of exhibition
and studio space for visual arts; 10 housing units for artists;
an outdoor sculpture garden; and ground-floor retail.
The project could be completed well before any of the cultural buildings
at the World Trade Center site and could serve as an anchor for
the Bloomberg Administration's vision for a revitalized Fulton Street
corridor between the trade center site and the South Street Seaport.
But to make the project possible, the plans also call for a residential
tower, up to 27 stories tall, on top of the arts center, which could
prove to be a stumbling block.
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The project, conceived by architects David Rockwell and Kevin Kennon
and supported by the city, is proposed for the north side of Fulton
Street between Gold and Cliff streets. The property, now occupied
by Foot Locker and Burger King, belongs to Southbridge Towers, a nine-building,
middle-income co-op. To make room for the new building, Fulton Street
would be narrowed by 50 feet.
A team led by Rockwell and Robert Balder, director of the Mayor's
office of Lower Manhattan Redevelopment, have made several presentations
recently to members of Southbridge's co-op board, which must approve
the project. The full co-op board was scheduled to discuss the project
at a meeting on March 2.
"We like the concept of the arts center," said Paul Viggiano,
the board's president. "But we have to figure out what's best
for the community and make sure that the best interests of Southbridge
are served."
Selling the property could earn Southbridge $14 million if a 27-story
tower is built, or a lease could bring $900,000 a year according to
Southbridge board member John Fratta. But Viggiano and others on the
board said there were concerns about the height of the tower, which
is under negotiation, the project's potential impact on traffic and
congestion in the area, and how the new building would be integrated
with other Fulton Street development plans.
Fratta said he is "totally opposed." "'I'm in favor
of the incubator project, but without the tower," he said. "I
won't support anything taller than five stories."
But Madelyn Wils, chairwoman of Community Board 1, and Paul Goldstein,
CB1's district manager and a Southbridge resident, said they supported
the project. "Anything that brings culture and art Downtown is
good. And it's a very good economic deal for Southbridge," Wils
said, adding that the tower could be configured "in a way that
will make sense."
The proposal calls for the Public Art Fund to run the visual arts
component and London's Old Vic to oversee the performing arts programs.
Rockwell and Kennon collaborated on the public viewing platform at
the World Trade Center site and Kennon was part a team that was a
finalist in the design competition for the site.
Rockwell's firm, Rockwell Group, has worked on projects that include
the W hotels in New York and Nobu restaurant, and the sets for "Hairspray"
and other recent Broadway shows.
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