Staff Editorial: No more theater delays

Yesterday, this newspaper reported that a deal on what was once to be the Sundance Cinema at the corner of 40th and Walnut streets was "imminent." Outgoing Executive Vice President John Fry assured the community that a proposal for the theater, originally expected to open in early 2000, will be brought before the Board of Trustees for approval "soon."

It is our sincere hope that a deal is coming in the very near future. But please forgive us if we are a bit skeptical. Administrators have promised this before.

In fact, in April 2001, Fry announced that he was "fairly certain" that he would have a proposal "within the week." Three months later, he admitted that there were "still a number of balls in the air" and that a deal was unlikely for several months.

Then, in August, Fry proudly noted that an agreement would be announced "in 60 days." 181 days later, there is still no agreement, and the construction site across the street from the Freshgrocer remains just that -- a construction site, one on which practically no progress has been made since Robert Redford's Sundance pulled out of the deal in November 2000.

Delays are, to a certain extent, understandable. The national theater industry is in dire financial straits, and Fry has worked tirelessly to complete an acceptable deal that will at least partially retain the original, "independent" feel for the cinema.

Still, it is absolutely imperative that the University make a deal very soon, not only because the theatre was supposed to open two years ago, but because Fry, the person primarily responsible for the project, will leave Penn in just a few short months.

Fry's departure will no doubt give an already uncertain project an even more dismally uncertain future. And if the last few administrator searches are any indication, Penn may have to wait quite a while before it has a new executive vice president.

But for the theater, we have waited long enough. It is time to get something done.

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