Story published in The News Record:
Photograph Oct. 20, 2017 — After 16 months and $143 million, Music Hall has reopened. Music Hall has been a landmark in Cincinnati since 1878 and a gathering place.
The historic Music Hall stands as one of the Queen City’s finest landmarks and received a full-scale renovation that was completed this month, which is just the beginning of many other historical restorations throughout Cincinnati.
Julie Calvert, the executive director of Source Cincinnati, said Cincinnati has a rich history documented through its architecture.
“Right now, the [Cincinnati] Museum Center is currently under renovation as well,” Calvert said. “We have a lot of love for our old buildings in Cincinnati. One of the things we like to do is instead of tearing down buildings is we restore them. Memorial Hall recently had a renovation and the Museum Center is under renovation and the Ensemble Theatre is finishing up their renovation so there is definitely a big boom of renovation because of Music Hall.”
Several students said the other new renovations make them want to go downtown to visit historical sites more often.
“I think this renovation is really cool,” student Abby Wissman said. “I have seen the pictures on their website and it looks beautiful.”
“It looks absolutely beautiful,” third-year marketing and finance student Sarah Eisner said. “I have seen the outside and I’ve always thought it was amazing. The new renovations will definitely make me want to go, and I feel like it will make others want to as well.”
Music Hall’s renovations not only improved aesthetic quality, but also functionality, said Calvert.
“People like to visit cities where they can have authentic experiences, and with the renovation of Music Hall — which put the people closer to the stage — it makes the sound and the acoustics better and makes for an overall better experience,” Calvert said.
According to Calvert, this renovation took off when it first began.
“It started as a repair-and-restore initiative, then we decided [how] much more can we do, and how much better can the experience be, and it quickly turned into doing a full-blown renovation,” Calvert said.
The project has been moving forward and rousing other changes throughout the city like the restoration of Union Terminal that began in July 2016.
The Music Hall Revitalization Project website says that this massive project has been in the works for almost a decade and the scope hopes to “restore the heritage of this world-class facility for performers and audiences alike” and “significantly enhance acoustics of auditorium and overall audience experience.”
“It was a $143 million renovation, and with that, they improved the acoustics, they improved the visuals — it’s a renovation that has been needed for a long time,” Calvert said. “The building was built in the 1800s and it’s been over 100 years since it had its last major renovation. When the experience is better, more people will come to visit.”
Overall, it seems that these renovations not only inspired people to come visit, but also prompted a whole new period of renovations throughout the Queen City and throughout the nation. According to the New York Times, Cincinnati’s renovation plan could set the groundwork to help the city of New York finally get the David Geffen Hall renovated after another $500 million plan was scrapped.
Maggy McDonel 