Article on Drawing Center relocation to World Trade Center site,

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

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THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY J J, 2006

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A rendering of a proposed new building for the Drawing Center on Pier 18, part of the old Fulton Fish Market; South Street Seaport is to the left.

Drawing Center Finds Its Perch, Not at Ground Zero , this part of town,” Mr. Negroponte continued From First Arts Page * said. The two-story building, on Pier I 18 on South Street, just north of Ful- ■ patriotic in Its content and unworthy I ton, has about 26,OW square feet per of die site. < floor and water on two sides. It would After an ultimatum from Gov. i afford ample natural light tor con- George E, Pataki — “We will not tol­ Sift { temporary works as well as dimmer erate anything on that site that deni­ grates America’’ — the institution bowed, out, departing with $150,000 ml I I I lighting tor historical exhibitions. ; ' "We have the opportunity to relate to the elements, to modulate that eto from the development corporation to I perience so it really suits the nresen- finance its hunt tor an alternative lo­ j tation and viewing of works on pa- cation. Today, Drawing Center offi­ E per,” said Andrea Woodner,'chMr- cials seem {^Uosophlcal about the : woman of the Drawing Ceoter experience. board’s steering committee on the “On my better days, I really be­ project. lieve any instltuticm that’s looking to Still, the site comes with consider- expand and relocate goes through a able risks. The walk is seven to tea process that’s not too dissimilar,” minutes from the 2 and 3 subway • George Negroponte, the center’s lines and 11 minutes from the 4 and S' , president, said, adding: “There’s a trains (although consultants' noted' public dimension to what we’ve gone that the Solomon R. Guggenheim through that 'Is draining. We’re in a Museum uptown is a full, nine mte* fish tank, and we’re constantly scru- ............... .... ...... ........... . . . ........ —,........... -.............. ....... Bfisftgester Utes from the 86th Street stop as ,thfe .'ttoized,” A fall 2005 group show at the Drawing Center 8 present home in SoHo, 4, 5 and 6 lines). To arrive at the Yet many involved in those tra- with drawings along the waJls and an instaiiation by Monika Grzymala. D R “pr£^ F« ; vails said the- search helped the ■ Drawing Center clarify its priorities. now, there are few cwnnerclal sites What was more important, they ital expenses. lege, had a convenient tocattaJ, at 30 in the area to attract walk-ins, and . 'Oked tSemselw®,'a"«wBd floor -The-search tor a neW'^e 'began to West./Broadway, between. Barclay souc street Seaport hasbeea’<«^.*-! '■ presence ■ or access' to traasporta-' ' Septem.ber, with Draw'lng Center of- ' ■ 'and Murray Streets,'with open space But a revival of the area W .' -tton? Ahlpneighbortioodorafamily flcials canvassing the area below Car directly south as part of the ground 'planned, and.-several^ develqxsrs ' envlroniBent? Should the Drawing nal Street with a team of consultants, zero master plan and short walks to have new bultdlngs in the works, like Ceate'T be part of a larger building, By October, it had narrowed Its list almost any subway line, a residential and comriiefclal toihnr or alm for its own free-standing to 75 possibilities; by November,, 'it But the building, which had been developed by Bruce C. Ratner and structure? had whittled that down to 5 tor con- damaged on 9/11, was already being designed by Frank Gehry on Beek- After “the trauma of the grouad ■ sMeratton by the center’s board. ' reconstructed, and the Drawing Cen- man Street and' a 'refarbishlag of ■ zero site.” said Adrian Ellis, an arts Each candidate had its pros and ter would have had to fit in somehow. Front Street by Frank J. Sctame, ’ consultant who worked with the cen- cons. The building that the center “It was too late in the process.” Mr. who is also developing the Calatrava ter, “I think they’ve ended up in a dubbed the glass factory, at the cor- Negroponte said. tower. 'very good position.” ner of Hubert and Greenwich The center also considered apply- “Let’s face It, It’s not folded into.' ' .' The space the Drawing Center has Streets, permitted a clear view south Ing for ground-floor tenancy in a lux- the city, it’s on the city’s edge 'under decided on at the New Market site is to 7 World Trade Center. “It pre- ury apartment tower at 80 South the F.D.R. — those are very real more modest (han the space deslg- seated a kind of corridor,” Mr, Neg- Street on the East River designed by challenges,” Ms. Woodner saW. And ' sated for it at ground zero — 23,500 roponte said. It was also close to SaiKiago Calatrava that is intended as Simon Bertrang, Ms. Weisz’s col- square feet, compared with 35,000 in Hudson River Park, the turnaround to have a cultural institution at its league at Weisz & Yoes, remarked, the Other buildlag, designed by the for the Holland Tunnel a.od Public base. The building promises to be an “it stinks of fish.” MpNorw.eglanflrm Si»betta.(AnI.n- School 234, and across from Citi- attention-getter, with its alternating But Ms. Weisz said the center ternationa! Freedom Center was to group offices, with all the daily foot duplex apartments resembling town would have to be a magnet of Ite own. have shared the buildtog at ground' traffic. houses in the sky. But center officials “You have to understand the Draw- zero ''but was also ousted from the “Because it was in northern TrlBe- felt that the design could upstage ing Center as a destination,” she project.) Ca, it put us closer to SoHo and Chel- their institution — making It difficult said, “not something you just • walk • Its current space on Wooster sea,” Mr. Negroponte said. “It would to establish a distinct Identity — and by.” Street measures only 10,000 square have been that kind of intersection its curviltaear structure provided tor This would not be the first time the feet. Will' an additional smaller exhi­ where a cultural tastitution really only about 1,400 square feet at the Drawing Center was a cultuf ai pto- bition space across the way. Even be­ would thrive.” With 5,000 square feet base. neer; It was one of the first arts Insti- fore.'it was chosen for the World on the ground floor and two street The Drawing Center also consid- tutlons to arrive in SoHo, in 1977; "I Trade Center site, the Drawing Cea- faces, tl»e glass factory became a ered a. site at 85 West Broadway, at think we become symbolically iww-( ter had been looking for a larger template tor what the Drawing Cen- Chambers Street, a two-story bank ertul to that kind of a situation,” Mr. home to present historical and con­ ter was looking tor. that Is to be developed Into apart- Negropontesaid. temporary work simultaneously and But the property was snatched up meats, Ms. Weisz said. But that, too, Perhaps most Importantly, tor expand programs for emerging art­ by another buyer. “That was sort of a was complicated by having to share some officials, the Drawing C«iter ists. lesson tor everyone in the impor- the building. will not have to prove that its pro- The Drawing Center’s initial pro­ tance of speed,” said Claire Weisz, an Crucial to the New Market’s at- gramming Is politically patatsble.'“I jections for developing the New Mar­ architecture consultant to the center, tracttons was the city’s plan to trans- don’t feel at all this Is second help- 1 ket site are about $45 million, and the Flterman Hall was a similar case, form a two-mlle stretch of East Rlv- Ings or something we’re settling tor,” development corporation has The classroom building, part of Bor- er waterfront into a vibrant espla- Ms. Woodner said. “We’re a little hit • pledged up to $10 iniUton toward cap- Pugh of Manhattan Community Col- nade. “We see so much potential in more aiitoiwmous.” ■

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