Classes at Detroit’s Institute of Music and Dance will continue – at least for one more semester.
The IMD’s future has been uncertain since July, when, just six weeks before the start of fall classes, the Center for Creative Studies announced plans to demolish the building housing IMD.
The Center for Creative Studies, an art and design college, has been overseeing IMD operations since the two merged several years ago. CCS faced a barrage of criticism over what initially looked like the demise of the Institute for Music and Dance.
Classes will be temporarily held at the Herlong Cathedral School and the Arts Center Music School; both are located in Detroit’s cultural center.
Robin Terry, director of public relations for CCS, says all the programs that were offered to its 650 students at the former location will be available at the new site through the fall semester while a permanent home is sought. "At this point," says Terry, "everyone is moving quickly to get into this space."
Although Terry says she has heard positive feedback from some parents, not everyone is happy with the move.
Mary Forsyth, whose three sons study piano at the institute, says the new facilities are inadequate. According to Forsyth, only one classroom will be available for piano lessons on Saturday, the busiest day at the school. Though she intends to enroll her sons at the school, Forsyth says they will study at their teacher’s home because of the lack of space at the new location. Forsyth also complains that cost of classes has been reduced very little though the semester will be shorter. "There is a slight reduction in price, but we are still paying more for fewer lessons," she says.
The semester is scheduled to begin Sept. 23.
