Eighteen months after it began, the $15.1 million renovation of Kingsbury Hall is almost complete.
"It may not keep the building totally intact, but it won't fall down on the audience," said Don Ma-honey, the project's architect.Mahoney was speaking of seismic improvements to keep the structure together during an earthquake. Other improvements include air conditioning, a porch in the front of the building, renovated seating, a movable orchestra platform and a huge new stage.
Those are all grand and glorious. But as anyone who has tried to answer the call of nature during a short intermission at Kingsbury Hall will attest, perhaps the most welcome renovation is this: There are now four times the number of toilets.
The builders basically doubled the extent of the existing stage in every direction - height, width and depth - quadrupling its volume from 150,000 to 600,000 cubic feet.
Outside, the new stage part of the hall towers over the auditorium when looked at from a distance. Inside, the stage appears no less vast. What's more, the builders put two stories of dressing rooms and practice areas beneath the stage for the convenience of performers.
"There's an assortment of (dressing room) sizes depending on how important you are," Mahoney said. "Apparently that sort of thing is very important to actors and actresses."
At one point in the construction, Mahoney got a little nervous, what with a creaky structure teetering over the 35-foot-deep pit.
"There were times when we had a good east wind going when I wondered if the building was going to fall in the hole," Mahoney said.
The renovation generally hasn't been an easy go, said Kingsbury Hall general manager Greg Geilmann. Much of the early construction time, for example, was spent arguing how the space should be used. The music department was initially loathe to relinquish office space in favor of expanding the front lobbies, and possible auditorium color schemes caused heated debate.
What everyone did agree on was that the existing color scheme had to go.
"I swear in 1967 there must have been a sale on GSA Army green," Mahoney said.
Though the original $8 million budget kept getting hiked up as new aspects of the project were added on, it's all finishing up according to schedule.
That's a testament to the diligence of those involved, said Geilmann, many of whom are "a little toasted around the edges."
Kingsbury Hall was built in 1929 and named after Joseph Kings-bury, who was president of the U. from 1897 to 1916. For many years it was the only real performing arts house in the Salt Lake Valley.
Original cost: $275,000.
"The seating renovation cost more than the entire building did in 1929," Geilmann said.
Until now, Kingsbury Hall has never had a major renovation, and if you listen to just about anyone involved, it was sorely needed. Geilmann showed a housing of the old overhead auditorium lights, a round, metal contraption that he likened to an Edsel hubcap.
"I think we'll save that for an opera project down the road," he said.
In a ceremony Monday, University of Utah President Arthur Smith presented the (almost) completely redone building to Gov. Mike Leavitt and sundry dignitaries as a centennial gift to Utah.
The official reopening gala will take place March 25.