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OSF plows ahead with theater plan Groundbreaking for $10 million project not affected by appeal By Tony Boom ASHLAND � The Oregon Shakespeare Festival will break ground on a new theater today, even as an appeal of the city�s approval of the project begins to make its way toward the State Land Use Board of appeals. OSF officials say the $10 million theater, which will replace the Black Swan Theater, will improve the play-going experience in the company�s smaller, more intimate productions. Festival will host ceremony, champagne reception today A public ceremony celebrating the start of construction on the new theater for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival will be held behind Carpenter Hall at 1 p.m. today. The event will be followed by a champagne reception in the Angus Bowmer Theatre lobby. The new theater, which will open with the 2002 season, will accommodate up to 350 playgoers and features a flexible seating arrangement. "Soon we will be able to move our productions out of a space that was designed for selling cars," said OSF artistic director Libby Appel, referring to the current Black Swan Theatre. Large donations from Microsoft co-founders Paul Allen and Bill Gates, and Sun Microsystems� Bill Joy will finance much of the $10 million project. "Basically it means that for the small theater we finally will be able to remove some pretty significant limitation," said Paul Nicholson, festival executive director. "It means more people will have the opportunity to see our work. The stage size and proximity remains the same, but there�s a huge enhancement in technological support and the actors will be in better situations." But two Ashland residents hope to burst the bubbles in the OSF plans. Colin Swales, an architect, and Philip Lang, a psychologist, have appealed the city�s approval to LUBA. Swales say his concerns include the bulk and height of the proposed theater and impacts on parking in the downtown. "It violates the �big box� ordinance," Swales said. "It�s in excess of the building (size) allowed to be built, clearly." The city�s "big box" ordinance prohibits a building or contiguous buildings of more than 45,000 square feet. The 33,000-square-foot theater and the adjacent 44,000-square-foot parking structure will be separated by a 3- to 4-foot gap. The city ordinance calls for a 60-foot separation. "Shakespeare asked for an exception to the 60-foot rule," said John McLaughlin, Ashland�s planning director. "(The exception) is appropriate to downtown where there are large buildings with common walls." Nicholson said OSF was confident the city had carried out a proper review of the plans. "There�s something like 150 criteria they had to examine," he said. "We believe the findings are most exhaustive and most substantial they have ever adopted." Ashland�s City Council unanimously approved the project after hearing an earlier appeal of planning commission approval by Swales and Lang. There was one dissenting vote in the planning commission�s 8-1 approval. Lang and Swales did not ask LUBA for a stay of construction. To obtain a stay they would have had to post a $5,000 bond to pay attorney�s fees and damages should they lose their appeal. The pair are not alone in their concerns, especially those involving parking. Beginning today, the city�s Hargadine parking lot will be closed for approximately one year until the new parking structure is ready for occupancy. "The scores of independent family businesses that need parking will be hurt and their interests are being ignored," said John Connolly, owner of Earthly Goods, whose 142 East Main St. site sits below the parking lot. Connolly says he fears the lot closure will hamper his holiday sales. He was also unhappy that notice was given just one day before the closing. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.