Wesleyan arts lab plans approved in Middletown

Plans for a new Wesleyan integrated arts lab have been approved by Middletown’s Planning and Zoning Commission, and university officials hope construction can begin as soon as October. 

The project includes renovating part of a historic 7,500-square-foot building at 56 Hamlin St., and building a new 11,600-square-foot addition. The cost of the project is undisclosed, but will be donor-funded, university officials said.

Joe Banks, Wesleyan’s director of construction, said the project went through a public hearing before approval was granted. 

The plans were generally very well received by city officials, Banks said.

The new space will allow the university to keep different artistic disciplines together in a more modern and decompressed space, officials said, including two design and drawing studios, a movement dance studio, three offices and indoor and outdoor performance space for students and the public.

Bidding for the project has begun, and the university hopes to start construction as early as October, Banks said. The project could take 12 to 18 months to complete, but the schedule will ultimately be subject to the developer’s phasing, officials said.

“But we expect demolition, site, and foundation work to be the first steps in the project,” Banks said. 

The new building will occupy university-owned space, mainly parking areas, at 177, 181 and 185 College St., reducing the number of campus parking spaces from 58 down to three.