They were never just buildings.
From their earliest conception, they were the embodiment of hopes and dreams, the tangible expression of vision — a testament to the heart and spirit of a community where the love of arts and culture always seemed disproportionate to its size.
Maurice Abravanel Hall (originally Symphony Hall) and the Salt Lake Art Center are celebrating their 25th anniversary next week, marking a quarter-century of activity and involvement at the center of Utah's arts community.
"They are fabulous buildings," said Victoria Panella Bourns, community-arts specialist with Salt Lake County, which manages the complex. "It is not often that a city of our size, a state of our size, has a hall of this stature. It's evidence of the support the community has for arts and music that has been here from the beginning, from the time the first pioneers arrived. This is a culmination of that support."
"It's a wonderful facility," added Alan Tucker, co-stage manager of Abravanel Hall, who works with Nicole Briggs in overseeing everything that goes on there, except the bookings. "It's renowned all over the world. Musicians love the building and the acoustics."
Keith Lockhart, music director for the Utah Symphony, wholeheartedly agrees. "I think Abravanel Hall ranks among the finest modern halls in the country. Acoustically, it is warm and embracing; it gives the audience a real sense of the presence of the orchestra, and there's not a bad seat in the house! Architecturally, it is simply stunning; simple, clean and elegant — a wonderful temple in which to hear the great gift of music."
It was a long time coming, however. The first proposed sketch for a civic auditorium appeared in the local press in 1929 — before there was even much of an orchestra. But as years passed, the idea of a multipurpose facility to house drama, dance and music grew in popularity.
Not until the mid-'70s did the dream take form. As the country began gearing up for celebrations of the bicentennial, President Richard Nixon promised federal funding for state arts projects.
After Watergate, that funding did not materialize, but in 1975, Utah voters passed an $8.6 million bond election to finance the construction of a suitable concert hall, a visual arts center and the restoration of the Capitol Theatre. This was added to a $6 million appropriation from the Utah State Legislature. The rest of the $19 million needed for the Bicentennial Arts Project came from Salt Lake County and private donations. Civic leaders Obert C. Tanner and Jack W. Gallivan were asked to oversee fund raising, planning and construction.
The planners took pride in the fact that the bond election passed by an overwhelming majority at a time when the economy was not particularly good — and 93 percent of all bond elections throughout the country were being defeated.
Tanner later wrote in his autobiography, "The rewards of public service are many and enduring. My involvement in the construction of a symphony hall continues to give me as much satisfaction as anything I have ever done."
Prior to this time, the Utah Symphony was rehearsing and performing in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, generously donated for that purpose by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Under the leadership of Maurice Abravanel, who had arrived in 1947 to command its podium, the symphony had grown from a part-time community orchestra into a group respected and revered throughout the country and the world.
But the maestro believed that to take the Utah Symphony to the next level, it needed a home of its own. And he had definite ideas about what that home should be. "If you will choose the acoustician before you select the architect," he told the planning committee, "I will stay out of your way." It was an offer they couldn't refuse, he later joked.
The acoustician brought in for the project was Cyril M. Harris of Columbia University, who had previously done work on such buildings as the Metropolitan Opera House, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Avery Fisher Hall.
Harris designed a "shoebox"-shaped hall to achieve a technical excellence in sound while also including simple, elegant aesthetics.
At the completion of the building, Harris told the Deseret News, "It's everything I expected it to be. No hall anywhere has superior clarity, and the bass is just great. It's as good as any hall I know . . . second to none in the world in acoustical quality."
Architects for the building were Frank Ferguson, Bob Fowler and Joe Reuben of FFKR Architects. They designed an angular plaza, fountain and lobby that would not only complement Harris' shoebox auditorium but, with its lines and directions, also pay subtle homage to Temple Square and the longtime home of the symphony.
Maurice Abravanel retired from the Utah Symphony just prior to completion of Symphony Hall. But his contributions and his position as heart and soul of the organization were recognized in 1993, when the name was changed to Maurice Abravanel Hall. "Of all the awards I have received," he said at the time, "I am most proud of this."
In 1998, an expansion project added a new reception area on the first tier, an expanded box-office area and better restroom facilities.
Abravanel Hall is not only aesthetically pleasing, it is functional, said Tanner. If you step into the serene lobby, you might not be aware of the hive of activity that goes on behind the scenes.
For example, there is an inside loading dock, so instruments and equipment can be easily unloaded in any weather. "We do a broad range of shows here," said Tanner. "A lot of equipment comes in."
As the major tenant, the Utah Symphony has storage space and other facilities backstage: lockers, a "piano garage" for the grand pianos, a library for books and scores, practice rooms. There are offices for Lockhart and for other executives of Utah Symphony & Opera.
Conference rooms, a reception lounge, the more formal Tanner Lounge (a gift from O.C. Tanner), the first-tier reception room are all used for special occasions, as is the lobby, which is rented out for weddings, business functions and receptions.
There are dressing rooms for visiting artists, a hydraulic lift (actually installed for Itzhak Perlman), security offices and a control room for the sound engineers.
The building is designed for acoustic sound, said Tanner, "but we also have a house audio system that can add sound reinforcement." Performers often bring in their own sound equipment, he said, and that sometimes leads to problems. "Sadly, some of the people who come in can't play to the space, and the sound is bad."
The lobby also offers engineering marvels. For one thing, the entire glass wall at the front is actually set into a trough to allow for seasonal expansion and contraction.
Then there's the Chihuly glass sculpture kept after the 2002 Winter Games. Yes, said Tanner, it requires dusting about every six weeks, "but it's a magnet for people walking by the building. They are always taking pictures of it and the reflections in the glass."
Every year, the entire building gets a thorough cleaning. Chandeliers are lowered so the crystal beads and prisms can be washed by hand. Brass is polished. Gold leaf is touched up. Carpet is replaced.
"The fact that the building looks and sounds every bit as good now as it did 25 years ago is a further testament to the support it receives in the community," said Bourns. "Abravanel Hall is truly the jewel in the crown of Utah's performance facilities."
Lockhart agrees: "I could almost say I love everything about it. If pressed for something I would love to change, I would say that I wish it had aisles, so that latecomers or early leavers wouldn't have to climb over 50 people to reach the exit, and that I wish it had larger backstage facilities.
"These, however, are minor blemishes on my otherwise unconditional love affair with Abravanel Hall!"
E-mail: carma@desnews.com