In the three months since Denver voters approved $60 million toward a $90 million overhaul of Boettcher Concert Hall, its main tenant, the Colorado Symphony, has wasted no time in preparing for the project.
A major priority at this early stage has been finding a place for the orchestra to perform during the 18 months or more that it will have to be away from the facility once construction begins, perhaps as early as May 2009.
Doug Adams, the symphony’s president and chief executive, said the orchestra will likely use a semi-permanent tent as a substitute venue, and it hopes to have a site picked for such a structure in as soon as two weeks.
“Our list of things to do is just so long that it would be nice to have this one done,” he said. “And it takes lead time. If we’re going to construct something, then we have to get on somebody’s calendar so they’ll be ready to put it up.”
Work on Boettcher got the green light in November, when voters endorsed bond issues 1G and 1H, which were part of $550 million in maintenance and capital projects that got the thumbs-up.
Plans call for gutting and reconfiguring the interior of the 30-year-old building in the Denver Performing Arts Complex and adding a 35,000- square-foot extension on the Speer Boulevard side, with an enlarged lobby and more space for dining and special events.
As an alternative to Boettcher while construction is underway, the symphony has examined three options and already eliminated two of them.
The first possibility, which it quickly ruled out, was the orchestra becoming something of a nomad and performing in multiple venues around the metropolitan area.
“People who haven’t thought about how you do this,” Adams said, “initially think, boy, it would be great to wander around the market and take the orchestra to neighborhoods and communities, but the logistics involved in that and the risk to the business plan is really high.”
Besides the high cost of moving the orchestra every week and continuously setting up anew, subscribers would have to remember where concerts are taking place each week and then face constantly changing seating configurations.
A second option was leasing an existing facility. Besides finding one with adequate seating and minimally acceptable acoustics, the building would have to be available for at least 18 months, with flexibility to extend that time if construction ran longer.
The symphony examined several possible venues, including one officials toured just two weeks ago, but none was deemed suitable, and that possibility was dropped.
Instead, the symphony has focused on its third option, the construction of a kind of semi-permanent tent, which could cost from $750,000 to $2 million, depending on the style and amenities.
Adams said the word “tent” probably conjures the wrong image. The structure would be enclosed, with heating, air conditioning and the standard conveniences patrons have come to expect at a symphony concert.
Money for such a temporary facility would come from private funds the orchestra has raised for expenses related to the Boettcher project that are not directly part of construction costs.
The symphony has received a major donation toward such costs, Adams said, and the organization plans to announce details of the gift in a week or so.
The orchestra thought it had pinpointed a location on the Auraria campus for its tent, but that possibility fell through. Since then, the orchestra has targeted three other sites in or near downtown.
“You’d like to have everything we have here (at Boettcher),” Adams said. “Most of the time we have good parking. We have rail. It’s a comfortable place for people to go. So, you would like to replicate as much of that as you possibly can.”
The challenge is finding potential property that would be open and available during the 18 months or more of construction and the time leading up to the groundbreaking.
“But we do have people interested in talking with us, and that’s encouraging,” he said.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
Finding acoustician, architect is next priority
The search for an acoustician and architect for the $90 million overhaul of Boettcher Concert Hall could begin by the end of February with the release of formal requests for qualifications.
Doug Adams, president and chief executive of the Colorado Symphony, expects an acoustician to be chosen first and then an architect, assuring that the two are compatible with each other and will work together well.
Symphony officials have already met informally with some acousticians and architects who contacted the orchestra after the bond issue for the project was approved in November.
“When this project became known around the country, people started calling us,” Adams said. “And, then, people started saying, ‘Can we come and look at it and get a sense of what the project is?’ ”
But Adams emphasized that such meetings are not formal interviews, and he expects other firms to express interest once the search process gets underway.
