Development News (Cincinnati, Avon, Jefferson: employment, costs, floors)

[kjbrill]

I just had to come back and ask what would Partricia Corbett think of this current endeavor. The Corbett Foundation I believe funded most of the rennovation of Music Hall in the 1970s. They have to be considered one of the all time great patrons of the arts in Cincinnati, ranging from the UC College of Music to others too numerous to mention.

So tell me you could look Patricia in the eye and recommend this current plan of rennovation!

I am not condemning a separate non-profit operation for taking over Music Hall. I am only condemning their short-sighted plan to reduce it to an also-ran position compared to its current position as the largest acoustical recognized venue in the world. You don't advance your position in the world by going backward.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by rrtechno

Just a little curious ... How does reducing supply drive up the demand? It's not quite like bread and milk in the grocery store when there is a snow coming.

Not actually being from the area at this time and having never been in Music Hall, I don't claim to be an expert in the situation, but I have been involved in an auditorium renovation. Anything that changes the original design and construction is going to change the acoustics as well as the ambiance. How close to full is the auditorium in it's current configuration during ANY of the productions there. It sounds like the thought is to remove nearly 45% of the seating. I can tell you that there will have a HUGE impact on the overall experience in that venue. Whether it will be good or bad is not something I will comment on. It will just be major.

I hope the planners carefully consider all the ramifications BEFORE making those changes. Once it is done, it is nearly impossible to return.

What do you know, I agree completely. Drive up the demand by reducing capacity? Does that mean people who desire a ticket cannot afford to purchase one? Sounds like an eltist approach to me. Drive the price of appreciating the arts out of the range of the Average Joe. That does a whole lot for increasing the cultural appreciation of the public.

The turning over of the venue to a private, non-profit organization is not the issue. Their current plan is the issue. The desecration of the Springer Auditorium is the issue. I am sure some of the advocates consider this an economical way to insure all of the entitites who use Music Hall can go forward. But at the same time it guts the essence of what makes Music Hall and therefore Cincinnati unique in the world. If by reducing the Music Hall capacity from 3,400 -1,500 = 2,000, you have equalled the Aronoff Center and even Taft Theater. So why waste the money, just tear it down. $165 million to just equal mediocricity, what is the purpose?

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Exactly, and the exact reason why Music Hall should not be downgraded. For the millenium it has been considered one of the best acoustic venues in the world. So why the push to take something unique to Cincinnati and downgrade it? Those who are pushing to retain what is unique to Cincinnati should be up in arms over this. Once lost, it is not easily regained. I for one would like to see the acknowledged acoustical superior and among the largest music venues in the world be preserved as a Cincinnati heritage. I just cannot see why those who advocate the preservation of Cincinnati in every other sense would agree to have this facility reduced to also-ran status.

The renovation would restore much of what has been lost at Music Hall over the years, like the grand staircases, the north/south wings, the open windows to the street., etc. This is the only way to save Music Hall. It's an ancient facility - renovation is necessary to ensure its survival. The reconfiguration of Springer Auditorium, meantime, is intended to improve the acoustics, not lessen them.

And while many people are lauding Music Hall for being among the finest acoustical concert halls in the world, I'd point out that it doesn't even have the finest acoustics in Over-the-Rhine. That distinction would easily go to Emery Theater.

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by rrtechno

Just a little curious ... How does reducing supply drive up the demand? It's not quite like bread and milk in the grocery store when there is a snow coming.

Not actually being from the area at this time and having never been in Music Hall, I don't claim to be an expert in the situation, but I have been involved in an auditorium renovation. Anything that changes the original design and construction is going to change the acoustics as well as the ambiance. How close to full is the auditorium in it's current configuration during ANY of the productions there. It sounds like the thought is to remove nearly 45% of the seating. I can tell you that there will have a HUGE impact on the overall experience in that venue. Whether it will be good or bad is not something I will comment on. It will just be major.

I hope the planners carefully consider all the ramifications BEFORE making those changes. Once it is done, it is nearly impossible to return.

Music Hall is rarely, if ever, at capacity for Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra concerts. Certainly for special events, like the recent CSO appearance of Yo-Yo Ma or Paavo Jarvi's final concert at the helm last year, the hall will sell out. But those are exceedingly rare. Specifically because the upper balcony level side seats are brutally inadequate from both an acoustics standpoint and the sight lines they provide. And that's at least 500 of the hall's seats right there. The Cincinnati Ballet took its wildly popular Christmastime production of Nutcracker to the Aronoff Center (and away from its beloved home at the gingerbread house-like Music Hall) because it wasn't able to sell those seats.

Not to mention, you'd better be fairly physically fit in order to navigate your way to those seats. With the steep angles and deep steps, it does anything but conform to proper standards.

If Music Hall's high capacity is so desired, why has no other city/venue copied it? From Carnegie Hall to the Musikverein, it's fairly established in the classical music genre that 1,400-2,400 seats is optimal.

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

What do you know, I agree completely. Drive up the demand by reducing capacity? Does that mean people who desire a ticket cannot afford to purchase one? Sounds like an eltist approach to me. Drive the price of appreciating the arts out of the range of the Average Joe. That does a whole lot for increasing the cultural appreciation of the public.

The turning over of the venue to a private, non-profit organization is not the issue. Their current plan is the issue. The desecration of the Springer Auditorium is the issue. I am sure some of the advocates consider this an economical way to insure all of the entitites who use Music Hall can go forward. But at the same time it guts the essence of what makes Music Hall and therefore Cincinnati unique in the world. If by reducing the Music Hall capacity from 3,400 -1,500 = 2,000, you have equalled the Aronoff Center and even Taft Theater. So why waste the money, just tear it down. $165 million to just equal mediocricity, what is the purpose?

But what would you rather have, kjbrill - a renovated, reconfigured Springer Auditorium in five years or no Music Hall at all in 20 years?

And I believe that the main auditorium has been altered significantly in the past. So it has already been "desecrated," to use your word. Unless you think the current configuration looks like this:

http://www.spmhcincinnati.org/Music-...ric-Photos.php

[kjbrill]

Fine, so move the Cincinnati Symphony back to the Emery where it performed for years, but do not spend $165 million to downgrade Music Hall.

[kjbrill]

Elsewhere on the web I have been reading about efforts to revive the Emery Theater. which has been closed since 1999. I have seen a lot of articles about a revival performance scheduled for 11/11/2011, but not a single thing relative to a followup. Did it happen or not?

Many years ago I was a member of the American Theater Organ Society, that means I paid my dues, which salvaged the Mighty Wurlitzer Theater Organ from the Albee Theater downtown. The ATOS members did an admirable amount of work to install the organ in the Emery, most all of it volunteer. They also tried to revive the theater by showing classical movies. The organ installation also included expanding it. The endeavor was admirable, and for awhile had some success. But getting people to go to the Emery on a consistent basis proved to be too much of an obstacle. So the Emery once again shut down in 1999. Thankfully the organ was retrieved and then reinstalled in the Ballroom at Music Hall. I have not seen it, and hopefully not too much of the Emery installation was lost.

But when you complain about my pessimism relative to cutting the major character out of Music Hall, with comments such as insuring it will be there 20 years from now, please qualify why the proposed plans insure that. Other theaters, such as the Emery, the Taft, and Memorial Hall right next door - what is their future? And what in the proposed plans does anything to preserve or restore the south and north halls? My own obseration is that Music Hall was not originally constructed as a world class music venue, but more of an exhibition hall, or as we would say today a convention center. But what it evolved into is a treasure Cincinnati needs to preserve.

[abr7rmj]

The 11/11/11 event did happen, and it was a success. And there is another similar event coming up in the coming weeks. But all those are intended to do is raise awareness of the Emery and what it will take to restore the facility. As I understand it, the building is in remarkable condition so the cost wouldn't be too prohibitive. But there is some concern about the two balconies (particularly the upper level) and their ability to accommodate crowds.

I was in the theater several years ago when it was lit by little more than a single generator-powered light, and even then it was beautiful. It would be amazing to see that theater return in all its glory and provide the city with a hall of that size to hold all sorts of concerts in.

[CinciFan]

Here is the spring update for the riverfront park. It's really coming along!


Smale Riverfront Park Spring 2012 Construction Update - YouTube

Also, the Lager House has been open for a couple weeks now and have been extremely successful. They have at least an hour and a half wait most nights. They did over $900,000 in sales in the first week.

[progmac]

Developers are in the process of transforming the 85-year-old Federal Reserve Tower at Fourth and Race into 88 apartments after serving as an office structure for its entire life. The process is one being undertaken in old cities all across the United States – transforming old office buildings into unique residences.

Continue reading

This is interesting. I hear people talk about the glut of office space downtown with the new queen city tower. Converting some of these beautiful old office buildings to apartments would transform downtown pretty quickly.