If the proposed sale of the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center to the city of Tempe is completed later this month, the swim team won't be the only ASU program preparing to move to a new home.
The Art Annex, located just south of the swim complex, currently houses the studios of 13 students working on their Master of Fine Arts degrees.
The sale of the Plummer Center to the city would include the Art Annex, said Mernoy Harrison, ASU vice president of administration and finance.
While the swim team has already been notified that it may have to move locations, ASU administration has not officially notified the school of art, part of the Katherine K. Herberger College of Fine Arts, that it, too, may need a new space.
Mike Wirtz, a third-year MFA student, said the lack of a warning worried him.
The MFA students have noticed development happening near their building and know they are in a "prime piece of real estate," Wirtz said. However, they have heard no definite plans about the fate of the Art Annex.
"With all the talk of the redevelopment, we're starting to feel like our days are numbered," Wirtz said.
Despite the lack of communication with the school of art, the administration has made plans for the relocation of the MFA students if the sale of the Art Annex and Plummer complex goes through.
The construction of new art studios is included in redevelopment plans for Tempe Town Center, Harrison said.
The school of art was not notified of the possible sale of the Art Annex because the studios would be easier to move than the Plummer complex.
Also, because the Art Annex would not be torn down, only refurbished for use as retail space, the MFA students would not have to move immediately, Harrison said.
"We didn't feel like it was going to be a difficult thing to find [the art students] space," he said.
On the other hand, construction of a new aquatic center would have to begin soon after a sale is finalized, Harrison said.
Moving facilities will not cause the School of Art a problem as long as the school is given sufficient time to prepare the new studios before it must move out of the Art Annex, said Jon Sharer, interim director of the school of art.
However, because a definite timeline for the project has not yet been released, Sharer does not know when the students would have to move.
"Hopefully it will align with [Tempe Town Center] development plans," he said.
ASU's Master of Fine Arts program is currently ranked No. 13 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. To keep that ranking, ASU will need the facilities to continue to be a competitive program, Sharer said.
Several MFA students confirmed that studio space was what originally attracted them to ASU's Master of Fine Arts program.
"The space is important because of the scale of the projects," said Brent Adrian, a first-year MFA student. "That's the reason I decided to come here in the first place."
Even though the students would like to stay in their current studios, they would be willing to change locations as long as the University provides them with sufficient space, Adrian said.
"It's important that they provide us with some kind of space. We'd like to stay here, but the space is the big issue," he said.
Reach the reporter at amanda.keim@asu.edu.
