By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GREENWICH VILLAGE — NYU unveiled the end result of its two-year renovation of the historic Provincetown Playhouse on MacDougal Street earlier this month, but some neighborhood preservationists said efforts to maintain the playhouse's original character didn't go far enough.
At issue are the decorative seat-ends the university pledged to protect. Instead of being installed in their natural position at the ends of the 94-year-old theater's seat rows, they are being displayed on the interior walls.
"Some may consider this a small point, but the fact of the matter is that they have gradually removed or destroyed every historic element of the theatre," said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.
The university says on the contrary that they pledged only to save the seat ends, not necessarily their location, and that they fulfilled that commitment.
The clash over how much of the theater to preserve dates back to NYU's original 2008 proposal to demolish the building to make room for its new law school. In a deal with Community Board 2, NYU agreed to preserve the theater and build what would become Wilf Hall around it.
At the time, the board stipulated that NYU protect as much of the theater's interior as possible, including original furniture and fixtures.
"They had talked about preserving the interior, which they didn't," said Simeon Bankoff, executive director for the Historic District Council, which opposed the renovation.
But far from destroying the Provincetown Playhouse, Alicia Hurley, vice president of government and community affairs for the school, said NYU made an effort to protect both the building and artistic legacy of the theater.
NYU maintained 85 percent of the original walls, Hurley said. Only one brick wall had to be replaced and that was because it had deteriorated and was structurally unsound, she said.
James Devitt, an NYU spokesman, said the seats that were replaced were not original to the playhouse.
"What we agreed was to save the seat-ends, which we've done," Devitt said. "They're in the facility — they're not used as seat-ends because they simply don't fit."
The newly revamped theatre opened earlier this month with a performance of the musical "Promenade" and has a full slate of shows through March.
Plaques detailing the history of the theatre — Eugene O'Neill was a founding member — and its place in American drama will be unveiled at an open-house on Dec. 11, Hurley said.
"We're just really happy that it's open again and that it's going to be a working theatre," she said. "We're really proud of the project."
