The Muhlenberg Weekly

Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: News

An exterior rendering of the new Rehearsal Hall, formerly the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity house.

The former Tau Kappa Epsilon house will undergo extensive renovations. According to David Rabold, Capital Projects Manager at the College, the renovations will most likely start sometime next year and will take approximately one year to complete. The space is designed to be used by Theater, Dance, and Music departments because the departments are out of space and as they continue to grow, the College wants to support them. Rabold also noted that, "Utilizing an existing, abandoned building fits into our focus on sustainability and the location works rather well with the programs planned for the space."

The main plans for the project are to provide two new acting studios, two new music rehearsal spaces and many additional offices and lesson spaces, with the objectives of creating more space for the currently over-scheduled facilities of the departments and also to "acknowledge the centrality [of the departments] within Muhlenberg's overall academic profile," said Rabold.

Dr. Jim Peck of the Department of Theater and Dance, said that in addition to a growing faculty, "the theatre and dance programs have grown very rapidly in recent years; the number of majors in both programs has increased by more than 60% in the last four years." Due to this there is not enough studio space for teaching and rehearsals. In addition, a number of faculty are "located in sub-standard" temporary office space, Peck acknowledged. He also added, "At the moment, in order to offer sufficient class sections to accommodate all of our majors we teach some classes in the lobby of the Trexler Pavilion, and rent space off campus. Students have very little opportunity to rehearse for class or work on their other projects in a properly outfitted rehearsal hall. The top floor of Rehearsal House will contain two new rehearsal spaces and four additional faculty offices to address these needs." After the renovations are complete, the space will be used to teach classes in acting and directing during the day and at night it will be utilized for various rehearsals.

As for the Music Department, Dr. Doug Ovens, Professor of Music, revealed that "The Music Department has experienced explosive growth over the past ten years.  Early in the 1990s we had about eight to ten music majors. Today we have about 85 plus a significant number of music minors. Ten years ago or so we had about 200 students taking individual voice or instrument lessons once a week. Today that number hovers around 350. Put another way, the music department sees about 25% of the entire Muhlenberg College student body every week, either in a class, in individual lessons or in an ensemble such as the Wind Ensemble or Choir." To add, the emergence of new groups akin to the Gospel Choir and Student Composers' Group, means that the aforementioned growth will continue. As a result of the TKE house renovations the electronic music studio will move to a room in the house which will be about 30% larger than the current space allotted for it. Ovens explained, "many students get closed out of my Introduction to Electronic Music course each semester because the size of the room simply does not allow me to increase the enrollment." The renovations will also provide the Music Department with teaching studios and rehearsal spaces for a range of ensembles and bands.

The renovations to the former TKE house are undoubtedly going to be an asset to the Theater, Dance, and Music Departments. The expansion of the three departments are going to benefit countless students and faculty while simultaneously adding to the growing and flourishing atmosphere of the College.

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