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“We thought that the gym space impacts<br />
student learning and student well-being most<br />
directly, and therefore that prioritized it as<br />
a major need,” said Head of Upper School<br />
John Stegeman.<br />
Some questioned why a new gym was<br />
e art building will be complete in August. The STEAM park will take several years.<br />
prioritized over <strong>MPH</strong>’s performing arts space,<br />
which many would agree is in need of attention.<br />
The performing arts center has certainly<br />
not been forgotten.<br />
Over the last 15 years, there have been<br />
several plans about what should be built and<br />
where it should be built, Dunaway said, and<br />
these plans have often included a new performing<br />
arts center.<br />
“I would say a performing arts area is<br />
high on the list of next big projects,” Mezzalingua<br />
said.<br />
According to Dunaway, making that<br />
change is challenging. There isn’t space for a<br />
big performing arts center. The barn has value<br />
to many, but it isn’t all that safe anymore,<br />
despite being a staple of <strong>MPH</strong>.<br />
“Some people would be glad to<br />
see the barn go; in fact, they see it as a<br />
tinderbox waiting to burn,” Dunaway<br />
said. “Others are very attached to it<br />
emotionally, not just people who are<br />
here now but some alums.”<br />
The performing arts curriculum is<br />
a big part of the <strong>MPH</strong> culture, just as<br />
the sports program is, and <strong>MPH</strong> wants<br />
to recognize that.<br />
“For those who do athletics, just<br />
as for those who do theater or music,<br />
that’s a big part of who they are and<br />
what motivates them.” Dunaway said.<br />
“There’s no reason our sports can’t be<br />
as impressive as our arts.”<br />
After the completion of the gym,<br />
the STEAM park will be built. The current<br />
gym will then be repurposed as<br />
an admissions and fine arts center, and<br />
also as a replacement of Lehman.<br />
“I think it’s important to note<br />
that it’s more than a new gym,” Mezzalingua<br />
said in his email. “There are<br />
four entirely new spaces —art gallery,<br />
STEAM park, gym, plus the renovation<br />
to Bradlee. These are major moves<br />
that will completely revitalize the<br />
school, and the whole place will feel<br />
like a new campus when they are all<br />
completed.”<br />
Looking ahead five years, Dunaway,<br />
Crane and Mezzalingua share<br />
big ideas and hopes for the future.<br />
The future is bright; <strong>MPH</strong> Rising<br />
is going to give campus some much-needed<br />
changes — changes that lead further away<br />
from the crisis.<br />
“When I came on board a few years ago,<br />
people were talking about whether the school<br />
would survive,” Dunaway said. “I don’t even<br />
want to hear that. I’m thinking about what<br />
the school is going to look like 100 years from<br />
now, 200 years from now. It will still be here;<br />
it will just look different.”<br />
Manlius Pebble Hill is here to stay.<br />
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