In Friday’s (12/9) St. Paul Pioneer-Press (Minnesota), Chris Hewitt reports on the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and a proposed new concert hall at its home the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. “The 1,100-seat hall, plans for which were unveiled at a news conference Thursday, will replace the under-used McKnight Theatre, which has been the home of theatrical productions such as ‘Grey Gardens.’ When the hall opens—if all goes as planned, in spring 2014—it will be the new home of the SPCO. It will feature a design in which the audience surrounds the orchestra, and both audience and orchestra are wrapped in honey-colored wood that includes an enormous, curvy, wooden ‘ribbon’ that extends from the back of the hall over the audience. Efforts to raise $75 million for the project continue, with $51.75 million already raised from public, corporate and private sources, including a $3 million commitment from the city of St. Paul and $16 million in bonding funds from the state. Lowell Noteboom, co-chair of the Arts Partnership campaign that includes the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, the Minnesota Opera, the SPCO and the Schubert Club, said the goal is to complete fundraising by March 31, 2012, and break ground shortly thereafter. … Ordway officials are estimating the renovation will increase attendance by 130,000 a year and will have an additional economic impact of $6.1 million.”
Posted December 9, 2011
