Friday, August 15, 2008 8:58 PM CDT
A work of art itself, Doudna Fine Arts Center will reopen Monday
By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
nwest@jg-tc.com
Go to our multimedia page to check out some more photos from the tour.
CHARLESTON — As he ducks under the yellow caution tape, tour group in tow, it becomes clear there are few if any spaces in this lofty, 270,000-square foot piece of functional art that cease to amaze Jeffrey Lynch.
“Although it says ‘Do not enter,’ I’m going to show you the women’s (rest) room,” Lynch says as he grins to reporters and photographers during a tour Friday.
And, true to his word, even the bathrooms in Eastern Illinois University’s Doudna Fine Arts Center underscore an effort to foster creativity — and wonder — with every inch of this modern architectural marvel: The restroom walls are covered with mirrored glass, illuminated by brightly glowing lamps hung strategically.
So if the women’s bathroom elicits such oohs and aahs, just imagine what the rest of this $66 million dollar building inspires.
“The two words we love to hear are ‘wow’ and ‘cool,’” said Lynch, associate dean for EIU’s College of Arts and Humanities.
Six years in the making, the colossal Doudna Fine Arts Center reopens its doors to the public Monday. And to say the old center was “renovated and expanded” surely qualifies as an understatement.
Designed by world renowned architect Antoine Predock, the new Doudna is nothing short of breathtaking — a project so ambitious in scope and creativity, the reality of it has yet to sink in.
“I’m really glad this day is here,” EIU President William Perry said Friday. “It really is an awe-inspiring building.
“It’s a place where our students can learn in a state-of-the-art facility, (where) their talent can really grow and blossom.”
James Johnson, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, described Doudna as a “catalyst” for immeasurable creative output, to say nothing of its potential as a communal gathering place and an attraction for sightseers and artists from across the country.
Themes from the commanding exterior — a copper-plated mountain that grows out of the shell of the original fine arts center — continue inside.
The west entrance is dominated by a catwalk spanning the “Red Zone.” From the glossy red floor to the ceiling more than three stories above stretches walls of red-backed glass plating. Lynch compared it to “a bowl of jello.” He said, “It makes you smile, doesn’t it?”
This opens into the building’s central corridor, walled to the north by a progression of mirrored glass, then black glass (in a box shape; the exterior of the “black box” theatre) and then white glass (the exterior of the main stage). The south side of the cathedral-like hallway merges into the angled, steel girders of the roof.
As with observation areas scattered throughout the building, this is indicative of Predock’s goal for visitors to see Doudna’s inner workings, said Lynch.
Most of the flooring is concrete, albeit stained, polished and waxed to a darkly shiny finish.
The performance spaces themselves are just as tailored to the overall aesthetic.
The stage of the refurbished Dvorak Concert Hall is covered in copper. The hall itself seats 600, and officials hope it will be alien to patrons of the former facility.
Arrangements of the elements of the black box theatre — from seating to stage platforms to lights — are limited only by the imagination.
And the university now boasts a main stage theatre that rivals many professional facilities. While the auditorium itself only has about 300 seats, the stage lies under 85 feet of fly space. Along with a vast, attached scene shop and nearby costume shop, EIU’s technical theatre capabilities have multiplied exponentially.
Doudna also features an array of acoustically precise rehearsal and recital rooms and auditoriums, along with a state-of-the-art lecture hall with high-end projectors and sound equipment that will become the home for the university’s film studies program.
There also are more than 30 fully equipped art studios, labs and classrooms.
Even the west hallway-turned-gallery is anything but ordinary: It arbitrarily curves, while shaped theatrical lights illuminate artwork suspended from tracks and three-dimensional pieces in glassed-in niches.
An exterior courtyard eventually will feature a 13- to 15-foot bronze creation by modernist sculptor Ruth Duckworth, along with other pieces along what used to be Seventh Street south of the complex.
All of it is a far cry from the shopping center and aging gymnasium where displaced art and music students have spent the last six years.
The original 6,800-square-foot Doudna Fine Arts Center was gutted of asbestos in the summer of 2002, but sat dormant for almost three years following delays and cuts in state funding.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich released the money in February 2004. Under the control of the governor’s Capital Development Board, construction finally commenced again in the spring of 2005.
The final tab exceeds the original estimate of $47 million by almost $20 million, even after what officials call “value engineering” to lower certain costs.
The university will host three days of rededication ceremonies beginning Oct. 24, said Michael Watts, assistant dean for programming.
Now, it’s up to the university community and residents of Coles and surrounding counties to bring Doudna truly to life, said officials. “The faculty and students will help shape what happens in this facility,” said Johnson.
“We’re thrilled to be returning to the fine arts center ... It’s something that’s unique to the area, something everybody can enjoy.”
Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.
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pointb wrote on Aug 16, 2008 9:20 AM: