On the move That school of music sure would look nice in Portland BY BECCA DEWAN

The creative are attracted to a place not because of its tax rate, but because of quality of life . . . Therefore, a place’s economic prosperity now depends more on diversity, healthy arts and culture scenes, great universities, outdoor recreation, and tolerance.

— Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class.

In the new global economy, Maine’s Creative Economy Initiative will become one of a small number of engines that will revitalize our communities, especially our downtowns, protect and preserve the Maine landscape, keep our youth here in Maine, and attract new businesses and residents to our state.

— Dr. Richard Barringer, Muskie Center for Public Policy

Quality of life, Florida proffers, is improved by healthy arts-and-culture scenes paired with great universities. Seems like that pretty much goes without saying, and it stands to reason that things would get a lot better around here if the School of Music at the University of Southern Maine would relocate from its current home in Corthell Hall on the Gorham campus to a new building on the Portland campus.

A new music building has been talked about for quite some time. Every so often at a School of Music event, the drawing of the proposed new music building is brought out — accompanying it are complimentary drool catchers with " not in your lifetime " painted in cursive on the bottom.

Ah, that’s too pessimistic of me. The building will be built. With the rising caliber of student musicians USM is attracting, it’s deserved and necessary. Why not build it on the Portland campus? If a new space is going to be built, why not put it in the best possible location?

Best for whom, you ask? Everyone. The students and professors, the community and the economy. Best for Maine. Best for you.

The way the Portland campus is right now, you could drive by on Forest or Brighton Avenue and barely realize you’d passed a university. Plans exist (if but in a stage of infancy) for major roads to be diverted around the campus and the parking lot outside the student center to be converted to a grassy quad. Voilà! Insta-campus.

Good start, but imagine what an entrance could be created by the modern Glickman Library and a new music building across the street. The businesses there now — Pier One, Pizza Hut, and especially Oakhurst — all could do just as well, if not better, in different locations. There’s no doubt that Portland benefits from a family-run milk business, but what is a dairy plant doing in the middle of the city?

The library and music building would stand not only as a grand entrance to the University, portraying an image of scholarship and culture, but also as a mark of the beginning of the arts district in downtown Portland.

This past May, the Blaine House Conference was held in Lewiston to discuss the future of Maine’s Creative Economy.

" The Creative Economy is a catalyst for the creation of new jobs in Maine communities, " said Governor John Baldacci. " People who create jobs want to live in places that have a diverse cultural mix and an innovative and educated workforce. Maine will be competitive economically if we continue to capitalize on the synergies between entrepreneurship, education, the arts and quality of life. "

The New England Foundation for the Arts and Maine Arts Commission released findings and recommendations based on their study of the Creative Economy in Maine. The arts-and-culture industries play three important roles: as an export industry connected to tourism, as a key component of the quality of life in Maine, and as a cluster of economic activity in its own right.

Moving USM’s School of Music would bring a wealth of concerts and musical activity to Portland. Portland being a population center, this change would give more people the opportunity to benefit from all that goes on at the School of Music. As great as USM’s nursing program is, you don’t hold showings of inserting an IV or dressing a wound. More accessible concerts and music events will get the community involved in this public university.

But the move would have the greatest impact on the " cluster of economic activity. " One of the recommendations published in the previously mentioned study was that Portland needs to create an environment of supportive inter-relationships among the arts and culture industries.

Bringing the School of Music to Portland would make it easier to create working relationships between the University and a number of organizations, such as the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the surrounding public-school systems, Portland Conservatory, and the Center for Cultural Exchange. By creating these positive relationships, we would not only be encouraging students to stay in Maine after graduation by giving them connections to professional organizations, but also forming a creative cluster which would help sustain Maine’s economy.

Students would also benefit from studying in Portland. Portland is simply a more desirable place for a college student than Gorham.

Presently, Corthell Hall is home not only to the music school but the financial aid and registrar’s offices as well. I’m sure those friendly workers would appreciate not listening to singers in the resonant hallway and horn players in the basement bathrooms. But where else can a student practice when all the designated rooms are filled?

The School of Music has outgrown its home. Let’s move it to the big city.

Becca DeWan can be reached at beccadewan@mac.com