Temple’s Klein College of Media and Communication and the Center for the Performing and Cinematic Arts will share a new integrated building on Broad Street and Polett Walk as part of a comprehensive plan to modernize Main Campus with new buildings.
The university plans to break ground on the building this spring and complete construction before the Fall 2027 semester, wrote President John Fry in an announcement to the Temple community on Nov. 19.
“We’re extremely proud of the education we’re able to provide here, the research we’re able to conduct in spite of our facility,” said Klein Dean David Boardman. “[But] for the quality of education and research, the quality of student media that we support and for competitive reasons, we really needed a new facility.”
Klein, the Boyer College of Music and Dance, the School of Theater, Film and Media Arts and student media outlets on campus will be housed in the 199,000-square-foot building, which will be built overtop the current 15th Street parking lot and student pavilion.
Annenberg Hall, a 55-year-old building that houses Tomlinson and Randall theaters, has “makeshift teaching spaces” and “outdated and inaccessible” studio spaces, according to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, who designed the new facility.
New technology in Klein’s media facilities will aim to imitate equipment in professional journalism, live entertainment, public relations and communications settings. They will also model a recording studio after the iconic Sigma Sound Studio, which has an extensive history with Philadelphia soul and recorded hundreds of gold and platinum hits, including songs from Aretha Franklin, David Bowie and Billy Joel.
Klein also plans to create an “integrated” section for student media outlets, including The Temple News. Other outlets involved in the integrated space will include TUTV programs, WHIP Radio and the Templar Yearbook, as well as space for the Claire Smith Center for Sports Media.
The university looked for input through conversations with the Civic Design Review committee of Philadelphia and a local Registered Community Organization, which addresses neighborhood concerns with development in their area. The university held the most recent meeting in October.
Klein hopes to give back to the community with their public relations students working pro-bono for nonprofits in North Philadelphia. They also started news sites in Kensington and Germantown, which Boardman described as “urban news deserts,” to help spread community news.
“We are dedicated both on the Klein side and the CPCA side to continue and grow the many programs we have in which we work closely with the community,” Boardman said. “There will certainly be opportunities for community members to get training, for instance, in video and audio production.”
The facilities for CPCA include a new 375-seat theater to replace the 425-seat Tomlinson Theater, which would be geared toward the smaller productions that CPCA plans to produce. The building will also house a cinema venue, a 140-seat flex theater and a 63-seat screening room. Randall Theater, which TFMA currently uses for small productions and shows “in the round,” holds 80.
“Only the film media arts and theater are really moving over to the new facility, but with that said, those facilities are getting expanded,” said James Templeton, the assistant vice president and university architect. “[There will] be more robust practice and support areas for those facilities, for more studios, classrooms and rehearsal spaces that are, I would argue, compromised currently.”
On any new construction projects, Temple hopes to achieve silver, gold or platinum certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a verification system for environmentally-conscious buildings. Charles Library is one of the main examples of a “gold” Green Building Education project on Main Campus.
The new building aims to offset energy draws from large mechanisms associated with high consumption and use. The architects plan to install insulation and exterior materials that help with solar and heat gain.
“This particular building, the program is equipment-heavy, so that makes it a little bit more challenging than a typical academic building to meet some of the sustainability requirements,” said Martin Droz, the associate vice president for planning, design and construction.
With the site situated on Broad Street, architects and planners for the building wanted to draw attention to the west side of campus that they believe has been academically underutilized.
“It’ll really draw the campus academically, at least across Broad Street,” Templeton said. “We always already have recreation facilities on the other side. It was important that this be a signature piece of architecture, something that will be a showpiece, not just for the university but for anyone driving up and down Broad Street to experience and really understand its impact.”
Aubren Villasenor contributed reporting.
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