Groups vie for space in proposed building

By ANGELA J. GATES
Collegian Staff Writer

Local groups representing a wide array of interests braved icy travelling conditions last night to voice their opinions on the usage of public space in the proposed State College Municipal Building.

Members of community clubs and organizations, such as a newly formed amateur astronomy club, a financial interest group made up of university women and the Pennsylvania Dance Theatre, attended the hearing and suggested various uses for the building.

Barbara Kabel, a member of the financial interest group, said they would benefit from the new facility because they are last on the list to reserve space for meetings at the Schlow Memorial Library, 100 E. Beaver Ave.

Kabel also suggested access to overhead projectors, slides and movies would be useful, besides having tables and chairs for 20 to 30 people.

Performing arts groups and organizations could also benefit from the public space, said Michael Casper, a member of the Pennsylvania Dance Theatre.

Casper said he also represented smaller theater organizations that could benefit from the use of a small but practical performing space.

He noted the space should be large enough to include seating for about 200 people, basic sound and lighting instrumentation and a private, adjacent room with minimal dressing facilities for the performers.

Members of the State College Municipal Building Committee, such as Thomas Daubert and Elizabeth Goreham, represented other organizations and voiced their ideas for the public space.

Daubert, a member of a local coin club, said his group has great interest in the space because it would be located downtown.

The club's biggest problem is getting new members, he said, because anyone without a car cannot attend a meeting.

Goreham said the League of Women Voters could use the space for candidate nights and public debates or forums, noting the building would need to include access for the media.

She also read an e-mail from a woman who said computer and Internet access should be included as well.

Plans for the new municipal building will be discussed at a Building Committee meeting next Thursday at 7:45 a.m.

Daubert said the committee hopes to have tentative plans made by the end of February.