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Columbus Symphony Orchestra wants to build $275 million performance space

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Tomateaux Quinoa Gumbeaux

Tomateaux Quinoa Gumbeaux

Geaux Tigahs!
    • www.wosu.org

    Columbus Symphony Orchestra wants to build $275 million performance space

    The Columbus Symphony Orchestra is banking on state grants and private donations to help fund the costly facility.
    www.wosu.org www.wosu.org

    90


    The Columbus Symphony Orchestra unveiled plans for a new 200,000 square foot performance and community space on the Scioto Peninsula that will cost an estimated $275 million to build.

    Renderings released show a boomerang shaped facility on the banks of the Scioto River just south of COSI. The large glass building has a spacious atrium flanked on two sides by a large 1,600 seat auditorium for the symphony to perform and another multi-floor column of multipurpose rooms for offices, a community theater and educational space.

    The symphony's Executive Director Denise Rehg told WOSU the high cost to build a dedicated performance space is justified to create something iconic to put Columbus on the map.

    "It should not be acceptable in some respects to (Columbus) that we don't put up such a building. The reality is we've been growing and we have such a wonderful story to tell as a community," Rehg said.

    The symphony first submitted a site plan earlier this year to build the facility on the 6-acre West Bank Park.

    Rehg said the symphony has already raised $20 million to build the venue, but other government funding including a potential $10 million grant award from the state and private philanthropic donations will help them reach their goal.

    Rehg said she jokes that the facility has the potential to be Columbus' Sydney Opera House, comparing its potential to the iconic Australian venue. She said Columbus needs a dedicated music hall like fellow major Ohio cities including Dayton and Cincinnati.

    The symphony currently performs in the Ohio Theatre in downtown Columbus and would move almost all of its performances to this new venue. Rehg said since the symphony does not perform year round, other performance groups will have the opportunity to perform there.

    "Part of its purpose is meant to be to create something iconic, in the city proper that will create a draw and hopefully help put Columbus on the map," Rehg said.

    Columbus Association of the Performing Arts (CAPA) CEO Chad Whittington told WOSU on All Sides Weekend last Friday that the symphony is aiming to build a smaller venue with better acoustics. Whittington said the project could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

    Rehg said the facility could finish construction and open by 2028.
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    Tomateaux Quinoa Gumbeaux said:
    www.wosu.org

    Columbus Symphony Orchestra wants to build $275 million performance space

    The Columbus Symphony Orchestra is banking on state grants and private donations to help fund the costly facility.
    www.wosu.org www.wosu.org

    90
    Click to expand...
    Does Columbus have an outdoor venue for shows? I know they used to have Polaris Amphitheater and then it changed its name when some car dealer paid for the name change. Is it still there? The reason I ask is the Cleveland Symphony plays at Blossom a lot in the summer, and that's the only way poor nerds like me can afford to go. We tried to get tickets to something at Severance and the tickets were pretty pricey - $100 each, maybe? I forget. But Blossom tickets... okay, I forget what those are. But under 18 are free.
    I think it's good for a city to have this kind of thing available to its residents.
    What is this going to do to the Ohio Theater? Is the Ohio Theater in bad shape? In a bad area? I haven't been there since probably 1988. Don't spend the money to build a new one if the existing one works fine. (I'm also talking to you, Cleveland Browns.)
     
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    Zurp said:
    Does Columbus have an outdoor venue for shows? I know they used to have Polaris Amphitheater and then it changed its name when some car dealer paid for the name change. Is it still there? The reason I ask is the Cleveland Symphony plays at Blossom a lot in the summer, and that's the only way poor nerds like me can afford to go. We tried to get tickets to something at Severance and the tickets were pretty pricey - $100 each, maybe? I forget. But Blossom tickets... okay, I forget what those are. But under 18 are free.
    I think it's good for a city to have this kind of thing available to its residents.
    What is this going to do to the Ohio Theater? Is the Ohio Theater in bad shape? In a bad area? I haven't been there since probably 1988. Don't spend the money to build a new one if the existing one works fine. (I'm also talking to you, Cleveland Browns.)
    Click to expand...

    There are a couple of outdoor spots for concerts, but nothing like Polaris/Germain. Kemba Live in the Arena District is pretty small. Columbus Commons is right behind the Ohio Theatre and is where Picnic with the Pops happens during the summer. It's fine for that purposes, but isn't a proper concert venue.

    I don't know of anything wrong with the Ohio Theatre other than the fact that I don't think it's that great acoustically for the symphony. I've been to a bunch of CSO there over the years, but after visiting Chicago and hearing their symphony in a dedicated symphony hall, the difference is remarkable. ChicagoSO is more highly regarded than ColumbusSO, but it was more than that. A space designed to provide the best acoustics makes a tremendous difference.

    That being said....I just don't know that the demand is there to support something like this. I've never, ever seen the Ohio Theatre full for the symphony. Not even close. Would a smaller and better venue create a scarcity that might drive demand up when tickets are harder to get? Perhaps....but $275M is an awfully big gamble on that proposition. This seems like "an if we build it, they will come" deal, but I'm not sure that's true. The Columbus theatre and arts scene is honestly pretty bleak and I don't know that a fancy new space is going to change that.
     
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    Fungo Squiggly said:
    My younger sister goes to that every year. You'd have to hold me at gunpoint to get me there. :lol:
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    Well... there wouldn't be any symphonic about it.
    It is definitely up my alley. I'm just not into the multi-day festivals any more. I'm fine with listening in the comfort of my own environments.
    There's one out this way called Rocklahoma. I've been intrigued, but will probably never go due to the same reasoning as above.
    Will definitely go to singular shows in OKC and Tulsa though.
     
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