Severance Hall - Changes and Renovations

Changes and Renovations

In 1970 the building's drive-through street-level entrance paved with tile was closed as the use of taxis and chauffeured vehicles had declined. A dining area was set up in the resulting space. Later on, one of the access corridors on the ground floor was closed off to create space for a dressing room for women orchestra members (harpist Alice Chalifoux had used her instrument case to dress in the hall's early years, when she was one of the only women in the ensemble).

Beginning in 1998, the Hall underwent an extensive two-year, $36 million restoration and expansion. The renovated building reopened in January 2000, winning the National Preservation Honor Award. The project architect was David M. Schwarz. The most significant aesthetic change was the replacement of the "Szell shell" with a new acoustical shell which would combine the acoustics of the old shell with a decorative style that harmonized with the rest of the hall. The resulting new stage area, which included space for the relocation and restoration of the building's original E. M. Skinner pipe organ by Schantz Organ Company, was named in honor of then Music Director Christoph von Dohnányi. The project also created a large, new street-level lobby where the drive-though (and later restaurant) once lay, opened a new restaurant in another area of the building, expanded the women's dressing room, added additional administrative office space, and expanded and refurbished many of the Art Deco design elements and details.