Temple has unveiled a plan for a new media and performing arts building on Broad Street

Temple University is planning a sprawling new campus structure to house the Klein College of Media and Communication and the Center for the Performing and Cinematic Arts (CPCA).

The new facility at 1830 N. Broad St. would stretch to 210,000 square feet of gross floor area on a 2½-acre site.

It would bring a large new academic structure to the west side of Broad, which is dominated by athletic and recreational uses on Temple’s campus. The new building is slated to rise on the site that was once proposed to host an on-campus football stadium for the Temple Owls.

“The existing Klein and CPCA facilities are very antiquated,” James Templeton, Temple’s director of architectural services, said at a meeting of the city’s Civic Design Review committee. “The colleges are losing their competitive advantage. … These are terrible facilities inside and out and not worthy of world-class programs.”

The two schools have their programs spread across campus under present conditions, Templeton said, and a new building would consolidate them and centralize their use of space.

Unlike the controversial stadium proposal, which garnered vigorous opposition, the Klein project received unanimous praise from city planners and a neighborhood leader at Tuesday’s meeting.

Local groups “are overwhelmingly supportive of this project, especially how they make the neighborhood feel much safer,” said Lewis Nash, head of the community group MAP Holistic CDC. “We all love the design, and we can’t wait for it to happen. If you could please expedite this plan for us, it will be much appreciated.”

As part of the project, the university would extend Polett Walk, a highly trafficked pedestrian thoroughfare, across Broad to 15th Street. The new building would straddle the Polett Walk extension.

“One of the big focuses of the project has to be on maximizing its positive impact on the public spaces that surround the building,” said Colin Koop, design partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, an international architecture firm.

More broadly the project hopes to make its swath of West Broad more accessible to the public. They would also add more lighting, as well as making extensive plantings, benches, and other beautification.

The city’s advisory Civic Design Review committee embraced the project. Planning Commission staff were also complimentary.

“Much of Temple’s open space public amenities ... seating and trees and other sheltered areas are currently on the east side of Broad Street,” said Jack Conviser, a planner with the city. “The west side of Broad Street is more devoted to athletic fields, which come with large areas of fences and retaining walls. Staff really supports extending Polett Walk and activating Broad Street.”

Staff also encouraged more bike parking along 15th Street and argued against any changes that would push bikers to Broad Street. The Civic Design Review committee encouraged the architects to think about ways to prevent the glassy building from endangering birds and to consider a green roof with planting on top of the building.

The renderings that have been made public are not necessarily the final version of the new home for the Klein College and CPCA.