STAFF EDIT: Replacing The ‘Nick’

The old Nickelodeon Theater — a favorite among Bostonians over the years — has undeniable character. Since its closing last year, though, its screening rooms have been transformed into lecture halls for Boston University classes. However, despite the history settled in the walls of this old building, it does not provide an adequate learning environment.

Boston University has begun plans to replace the Nickelodeon Theater with a biomedical and engineering research building. A new building in necessary, but it has taken the University a year to figure out what to do with the property. In that time, students have suffered through the uncomfortable and distracting conditions of the Nickelodeon screening rooms-turned-lecture halls.

The Nickelodeon Theater is not conducive to a productive learning environment. Most of the “lecture halls” lack desks and do not offer adequate two-way acoustics. Simply put, they were not designed to be used as classrooms. Furthermore, theater remnants, including a deserted snack counter, take up space and detract from the building’s aesthetic as a place of education. The building needs this proposed change not only to benefit BU students, but to benefit the University’s reputation.

To pull off a project such as this, classes would have to be relocated. Nevertheless, this should not be a problem, as there are plenty of other locations across campus that would suit the classes currently held in the theater. Besides, if the University had contemplated these plans this summer, before scheduling classes in the building, this would not even have to be considered.

The idea of replacing the old Nickelodeon Theater is wise, but the University took too long in its efforts to create more learning spaces. Students should not have to attend class in this setting, and speedier planning will have them out of there soon.