Playing a Protest Song : Recital Hall Delay Prompts Disharmony in Music Program

A raggle-taggle marching band of about 65 frustrated music students strutted noisily across the Cal State Long Beach campus this week, blowing on trombones, clarinets, French horns and other instruments to make a point.

“We want our recital hall,” said Melissa Haisten, secretary of the Music Students Assn. that organized the protest. “We’re here to send a message to the administration--it’s been (nearly) 18 months and work on our building hasn’t even started yet.”

She was referring to the Gerald R. Daniel Recital Hall, which has been closed since its 120-ton roof collapsed in July, 1990. The $6.3-million complex was the chief campus building for music classrooms, rehearsals and performances.

Since then the university’s various musical ensembles have been rehearsing in a former aerobics gym at the Marina Pacifica Mall three miles off campus--a facility that most music students describe as woefully inadequate. For performances, the department has to scramble to use other campus buildings, such as the University Theater, or rent local churches.

“Without a recital hall there’s no place for us to get together anymore to bring back the spirit of the department,” said Haisten, who plays the flute.

University officials attribute the delay to financial problems. “It’s simply too expensive for us to afford,” said William H. Griffith, vice president for administration and finance.

Ordinarily, he said, the university would pay for repairs up front and collect from those responsible later. But because the money is not available, Griffith said, university officials must negotiate with various other parties--architects, engineers, contractors and manufacturers. Those parties were slow in paying for the preliminary investigation, the design of a new building and the preparation of bid specifications, he said.

The investigation and design have now been completed, Griffith said, and officials should be receiving bids by the end of this month. Early next month, he said, representatives of the various parties involved with the building will begin meeting with university officials and a professional mediator to try to decide who pays for what.

Should those negotiations fail, Griffith said, the university may seek financial aid from the state to help replace the $6.3-million recital hall. And it would consider a lawsuit against the parties involved in building the structure that collapsed.

“It’s not a sure thing,” he said, “but I’m optimistic that the negotiations will work. The sad thing is that there is no fast or easy solution to this problem; the students have a right to be upset.”

That view seemed to be shared by other administrators, several of whom participated in Monday’s demonstration. After parading across the campus chanting, “No more flack, we want our building back,” and playing the CSULB fight song, the demonstrators stopped at the dean’s office of the College of the Arts and were joined by acting dean Thomas Ferreira and Provost Karl Anatol. The group then marched to the central Administration Building where they heard several speeches and played “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

In addition to the delay, the students said they are angry about cuts in the music department’s budget that have caused the number of private music lessons funded by the state to be reduced, among other things.

“These are terrible, terrible times,” Anatol told the crowd, adding that university President Curtis L. McCray, who was off campus, would meet with a representative of the students next week to discuss the matter. “We really want to help.”

Don Para, chairman of the music department, told the protesters that he was proud of their action.

“You’ve put up with a lot and you’ve been very, very patient,” he said.