It’s Curtains for the Performing Arts Center
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There’s no telling what prompted the CSO to go sour on the project after seeming so enthusiastic about it a year ago, but the apparent switch suggests a break in communication between the trustees, board president Richard L. Thomas, and executive director Henry Fogel. One trustee said Thomas never formally polled board members before joining the feasibility committee and suggested that Thomas was simply interested in “going along for the ride.” Thomas could not be reached for comment. Bryan’s memo unfortunately leaves Henry Fogel, a sharp administrator and one of the performing arts center’s biggest boosters, with egg on his face. Says Fogel: “I think there was a presupposition among some of us that it wasn’t possible to make Orchestra Hall suitable for the orchestra’s future needs, and it now appears that may not be the case.”
So the CSO board continues to investigate renovation of Orchestra Hall. One source said the board is leaning toward a $25 million plan that would include some enlargement of the present cramped stage space. If the CSO board goes forward with such a proposal, the members most likely will have to do the fund-raising themselves, though Fogel has hinted at a possible deal that would have Bryan’s committee raising funds for Orchestra Hall renovations and a new opera house. Stay tuned.
The Recycling Tour
