WTC performing art center plans change again

UPDATED 1:08 p.m. March 28, 2013: Nine years on, plans for the performing arts center at the former World Trade Center site have quietly changed again — for the fourth time, according to the New York Times.

So far, three tenants have been considered for the space, each ultimately nixed. The tenant finally signed off on, the Joyce Theater, would have turned the center into the International Dance Center.

Now, though, the space will no longer be used exclusively for dance. Instead, the site will host plays, concerts and films as well as dance performances.

“Am I disappointed that it’s not going to be all dance all the time?” Linda Shelton, the Joyce’s executive director, said. “Of course I am. But I’m patient and I’m realistic, so I want to be there with whatever it is.”

The size of the center is also shrinking. Originally, the theater was supposed to have 1,000 seats along with classrooms and additional stages. Plans now call for none of the extra space and the number of seats also might be cut.

The previous tenants proposed for the Frank Gehry-designed center: the International Freedom Center, which would have promoted human rights; the Drawing Center, which recently renovated its Soho space; and the Signature Theater, considered too expensive by the state. [NYT] —Christopher Cameron