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OSF theater plan criticized, praised By DANI DODGE ASHLAND -- More than 70 Ashland residents met with Oregon Shakespeare Festival officials Monday night to discuss the theater's plans to move historic Carpenter Hall and make way for a new theater. Some in the audience beseeched the community to support the festival and its artistic vision. Non-festival artists in the audience applauded the festival's plan to move Carpenter Hall to a place where they could use its stage for their own performances. But the most strident voices were those concerned about preserving Carpenter Hall, a colonial revival structure built in 1923 at Pioneer and Hargadine streets. "I'd like to save Carpenter Hall and save it where it is," said Bill Street. "It's one of the jewels of the town." The festival is planning to build a new theater where Carpenter Hall now sits to replace the 138-seat Black Swan Theatre. Executive Director Paul Nicholson said the festival hopes to begin construction of the new theater in the fall of 2000 and begin showing plays there in the spring of 2002. Officials say the Black Swan -- originally a used-car showroom -- no longer meets the artistic needs of the festival. The dressing rooms are cramped and there's a pillar in the middle of the stage. The new theater would allow an additional 200 or so seats that could be configured in a number of different ways. But the plan would also require some land from a city parking lot on Hargadine Street. The open meeting was the first the festival has held with the community about the controversial plan, although festival officials have had "focus group" and private discussions with residents. Several in the audience suggested the festival hasn't been creative enough in coming up with ways to meet its artistic needs. One man suggested the festival ought to consider building a double decker parking lot in the current parking location on Hargadine Street, and put a theater on top of that. Another suggested the festival should alter its vision and be content with whatever could fit into the space already occupied by the Black Swan. One woman suggested that the community could help convince the adjacent property owners -- the building now leased by Starbucks -- to sell to the festival. That would make enough room to accommodate the festival's desires where the Black Swan now sits, she reasoned. But the festival's artistic director, Libby Appel, said replacing the Black Swan in its current location would mean OSF would have to go without a third theater for a season or two. Jobs would be lost. Theater patrons would miss out. Nicholson said the city would lose as well. "That's roughly 10 percent of our audience and that obviously would have a negative economic impact on the city," he said. Many who spoke at the meeting supported the festival. One man noted that the building of the Angus Bowmer Theatre was much more controversial than the moving of Carpenter Hall, but it turned out to be great for the theater and the community. Performance artist Cil Stengel said the artists in the community could really use Carpenter Hall if it was made available. "I'm here in support of the festival," Stengel said. "I've rented Carpenter Hall in the past and it's a wonderful space for artists." Nicholson said the festival's next step will be going to the city to discuss obtaining some of the parking lot area necessary to create the space necessary for the new theater. Few parking spaces would be lost because the lot could be restriped, he said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA