Performing Arts Center is planned to replace the temporary PATH entrance

The opportunity to bring “world-class arts and events” to Lower Manhattan is one that multiple city and state agencies are actively working towards by planning the future Performing Arts Center (PAC) at the World Trade Center. The latest details on that goal were delivered this week to Community Board 1, in an update from Andrew Winters, the capital project director for the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development.

In his update, Winters said that renowned architect Frank Gehry, who was selected to design the PAC in 2004, is still on board, and that the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s allocation of $55 million for its planning and construction is secure.

What’s now being addressed, he said, is exactly how to proceed at the location known as “Site 1B,” located between Towers 1 and 2 along Vesey Street. Currently, foundation drawings that could support the PAC structure -- or any 10 to 12 story building -- are about 90 percent complete. And even though the center’s design is still on the drawing board, the foundation-construction planning is critical at the moment to make use of the Port Authority’s PATH service outages slated for the second quarter of 2010.

“When you’re looking at a structural diagram, it’s usually fairly regular and all the loads are distributed [evenly],” said Winters. “Here you don’t really have many opportunities [for even loads] because of the PATH tracks. So we put in structure everywhere we possibly can in order to support [the superstructure] -- and this is what we’re looking to move forward with. The goal is to pour the foundations above the level that the PATH train travels in, so in the future when we come back to actually build the facility, we won’t need to stop the PATH trains for a second time.”

Winters presented several renderings for the not-yet-final PAC superstructure, which he described as a “stacked” building adorned with trees. At its core is a 1,000-seat theater, surrounded on various levels by balconies, terraces, educational and rehearsal spaces, and perhaps even an outdoor amphitheater. A key design goal is to keep the lobby open to help enliven the streetscape around it. This could be accomplished in part through a ground-level café and programmable outdoor space.

The Joyce Theater continues to be the curatorial partner for the center, as it has since the LMDC selected it in June 2004.

“The goal is to have a wide variety of programming at the site, that’s one goal” said Winters. “A second goal is to have a resident group of world-class stature that has the ability from day one to elevate the profile of this facility. The thinking right now is that the Joyce would be the major tenant and major programmer, but not limiting it so that they’re the only programmer.”

Winters said that his team is moving ahead with plans to develop the PAC at Site 1B -- rather than at the site of the current 130 Liberty Street building (“Site 5”), which was proposed as a potential way to building it sooner.

The current PAC timeline is to build Site 1B foundations with the Port Authority’s help next year. Also in 2010, Winters said that a fundraising campaign and institutional development will begin, while final design drawings are completed by 2012. Depending on the schedules for surrounding WTC towers and the seven levels of sub-grade structure, PAC construction could start in 2014, with a potential 36-month building phase.

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