Amid the barrage of city infrastructure initiatives on the ballot this fall, voters should not overlook the $60 million designated for a much-needed overhaul of the outmoded, inadequate Boettcher Concert Hall.
The shortcomings of the 29-year-old facility in the Denver Performing Arts Complex are many and varied, starting with inferior acoustics, which dampen and even distort the sound emanating from the stage.
More tangible are the building’s physical limitations, ranging from a cramped, unattractive lobby with too few restrooms to limited, ill-suited backstage spaces for musicians, technicians and visiting performers.
Although many of these problems emerged in the years immediately following the hall’s opening in 1978, it was not until 2004 that the Division of Theatres & Arenas began to publicly air the possibility of a complete overhaul.
After two subsequent studies, which dramatically reinforced the hall’s deficiencies, and consultations with other experts, Theatres & Arenas and the Colorado Symphony collaborated on a comprehensive $100 million plan.
After initial opposition from some members of the City Council, the plan was scaled back to $90 million, with the symphony agreeing to raise $30 million from private sources. The other $60 million is part of a package of $550 million in bonds and a $27 million tax increase for future maintenance.
Boettcher’s public funding is split, with $20 million included in Issue 1G, which sets aside $60.5 million for the refurbishment and maintenance of cultural facilities.
The other $40 million is contained in Issue IH, which also includes $30 million for the Denver Museum of Nature & Science for a science education center and collections storage facility (part of a 10-year, $142 million upgrade).
Even though the public funding is split for the purposes of the ballot, it will be nearly impossible to make use of one set of funds independently of the other, because both are destined for the one renovation project.
Make no mistake: This will not be a series of Band-Aid repairs. Theatres & Arenas envisions largely a gutting and reconfiguration of the hall’s interior and a 35,000-square-foot expansion on the Speer Boulevard side of the building with an enlarged lobby and more space for dining, special events and educational activities.
Although $90 million might sound like a lot of money, it is a relative bargain compared with, say, Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, which cost $118.1 million nearly a decade ago. A planned 1,600-seat symphony hall in Kansas City, Mo., is part of a performing arts center with a whopping price tag of $326 million.
By maintaining the basic structure of Boettcher Concert Hall, a considerable amount of money is being saved. And with the city teaming with the symphony in an exemplary public-private partnership, taxpayers do not have to foot the whole bill.
It’s too bad that every Denver voter does not have the chance to tour Boettcher before he or she casts a ballot on the infrastructure initiatives, because the building’s problems would become glaringly clear.
But the individual shortcomings aside, there is the larger question of what kind of a community residents want Denver to be.
There has been much talk in recent years of trying to transform it into a world-class city. By definition, such cities have world-class cultural amenities, and Boettcher Concert Hall does not come close to making that grade.
The Colorado Symphony is a steadily improving orchestra that is gaining increasing national notice. But if its artistic growth is to continue, it needs a high-quality hall in which to perform.
In the past decade or so, Denver has built or expanded nearly all of its other important civic structures, from Invesco Field and Denver International Airport to the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Art Museum.
Put simply, it is Boettcher’s turn.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
