
Architects’ rendering shows renovation and expansion plans for Powell Hall, the St. Louis Symphony’s longtime home.
In Tuesday’s (1/14) St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Daniel Neman writes, “The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is tantalizingly close to reaching its goal. The orchestra announced Tuesday that it has raised $150 million of the $155 million it is hoping for to pay for the renovation and expansion of its Powell Hall home. The hall will reopen in September with a ribbon-cutting ceremony followed by a performance by the orchestra. The $150 million in gifts raised to date is nearly 97% of the goal. Of the anticipated $155 million, $140 million will go to the building itself, with the remaining $15 million will be added to the orchestra’s endowment for future uses. The performance hall will be the heart of the newly named Jack C. Taylor Music Center. A 65,000 square foot expansion will be home to an education and learning center, and a rehearsal and gathering space for the St. Louis Symphony Chorus, the St. Louis Symphony In Unison Chorus, and the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. Powell Hall was built in 1925 as a 4,000-seat movie and vaudeville theater…. The theater closed in 1966 … and was purchased by the St. Louis Symphony Society. The orchestra has been using it since 1968.”