Page 34 - Fall 2019
P. 34
Springer Auditorium
following renovation
Institutional
Institutional
Investments
Investments
Cultural and Educational Projects
Enhance Their Communities by Steven K. Dickens, AIA, LEED AP
Chapter Design Award in Historic The Music Hall complex in Cincinnati, Ohio, is one of the most
Resources/Preservation extravagant Gilded Age confections in the entire country. Built in
1878 in the Victorian Gothic Revival style, it was the work of
Cincinnati Music Hall architect Samuel Hannaford. The design is reminiscent of the St.
Cincinnati, OH Pancras train station in London of 1868, where an elaborate “head
house” fronts the train track sheds. At the Music Hall, in lieu of the
OTJ Architects (theater design) train sheds is the grand Springer Auditorium flanked by two large
exposition halls. The 1880 Democratic Party convention was held
Executive Architects: Perfido Weiskopf Wagstaff here, and the building remained Cincinnati’s primary meeting and
+ Goettel Architects convention facility until it was supplanted by a modern convention
Structural Engineers: THP Limited, Inc. center in the 1970s.
MEP Engineers: Pennoni Associates Inc. Home to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati
Acoustical/AV/IT/Security Consultants: Akustiks, LLC Pops, the Cincinnati Ballet, the Cincinnati Opera, and the May
Theater/Lighting Consultants: Schuler Shook Festival Chorus, the auditorium remained in use through the 20th
Restoration Consultants: EverGreene Architectural Arts century even as the building’s condition deteriorated. There were, of
General Contractor: Messer Construction course, periodic renovations and updates, but nothing systematic.
In 1970, the building was added to the National Register of
32 INSTITUTIONAL INVESTMENTS
