While the Detroit Symphony Orchestra takes its summer break, the building trades and construction manager George W. Auch are making a guest appearance in the DSO's home, Orchestra Hall, renovating and expanding the architectural gem.

The $60 million project includes a 134,000 square-foot Fisher Music Center addition on the north side of the hall, a three-story atrium lobby, and a second, smaller performance hall. The most important work, however, is being done in the main performance hall, where the concrete floor has been ripped out in preparation for the installation of a new ventilation system. Everything will have to be put together again by the beginning of October, when the DSO's new season begins.

"It's a complex, high-risk project, but we're on target to have the hall open on time," said George W. Auch Project Manager David Williams. "There's a real sense of pride by the contractors and the trades people in what we're doing here."

The Orchestra Hall restoration and renovation project are being performed in two separate 18-week periods during this summer and the summer of 2003. Approximately 125 construction workers are currently on the project.

Located on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Orchestra Hall was constructed in a remarkably fast time period of four months and 23 days in 1919. To save time, the four-story, 70,000 square-foot hall was built on the foundation of the Old Westminster Church, which was built on the site in 1878.

The exterior of the 2,042-seat hall is unpretentious, compared to the garish Fox Theatre down the street. Inside, the hall has some terrific plaster-work, and beautiful chandeliers and lighting. But what really makes Orchestra Hall a classic is how it makes the orchestra sound: by all accounts designers made the building an acoustical masterpiece.

The hall was saved from the wrecking ball in 1970, and was extensively renovated in the late 1980s. The building still had shortcomings, including a small lobby, and an inadequate backstage area - issues which are both addressed with this renovation. But one of the facility's most glaring deficiencies that's also the trickiest to improve is the ventilation system.

"Three large floor registers cooled the entire facility," Williams said. "They would energize the system to cool the building before the performances, then just prior to any given concert the maintenance staff would then de-energize the system because of the noise issue. Without any air movement it would get pretty stuffy in there."

To improve the HVAC system, the design called for removal of the seven-inch-thick concrete slab under the main floor seating area. Oversize duct work (to reduce air velocity and noise) will go under the new concrete floor, and the new HVAC system will employ about 400 diffusers under the seats to improve air flow.

A template was made of the concrete floor and seating area to use when it comes time to put everything back together.

"Putting the new concrete slab back exactly like the original is going to be the real challenge," Williams said, because the concrete floor has numerous pitches and slopes. In addition, he said the seats will have to be placed in exactly the right positions in order to stay clear of the vents and avoid tripping hazards. And the other major underlying concern is to maintain the facility's unique acoustical qualities.

That concern about sound extends to other parts of the renovation and expansion project. Foreman Jerry Anderson of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1 and masonry contractor Monte Costella said block walls around the addition's mechanical areas are being laid atop rubber waffle pads. "They're pretty adamant about using them," he said. "I've never seen them used before; they're supposed to help keep the sound from going through the walls."

On the north side of the building, blocklayers are building a wall for the addition, immediately adjacent to the original exterior brick wall. "The original wall is just massive brick; about two-feet thick," Anderson said. "You don't see that done any more. Maybe that has something to do with the good acoustics, too."

The entire project is expected to be complete in September 2003, and will include a 550-seat performance hall, a rehearsal hall, and education center, administrative and support areas, plus the renovation of the existing Orchestra Hall.

The hall's seats have been shipped to Baltimore to be refinished, re-covered and made self-rising, in compliance with fire safety codes. The hall will also get a new orchestra pit lift, two remodeled musician locker rooms in the basement, and the chandeliers will also be rebuilt. The fly tower roof (above the stage) will be replaced, and the hall's west exterior wall will receive a special surface application to help maintain proper humidity levels. The entire historical west and south facades will be completely restored by the end of next summer.

"Since we first announced the Orchestra Place project in 1996, our immediate neighborhood, the Woodward Corridor and the entire Cultural Center has undergone tremendous growth and development," said Peter D. Cummings, DSO Chairman of the Board, "We plan to continue to this trend of urban revitalization and economic investment with the Fisher Music Center, creating a musical and educational resource for the citizens of our city and region." 

A MODEST FACADE on Detroit's Orchestra Hall conceals one of the finest acoustical auditoriums in the U.S. At right is an addition that will add 134,000-square-feet to the building.

WORKING ON CONDUIT in the lower seating area of Orchestra Hall is Patrick Moore of IBEW Local 58 and J & J Electric. The concrete under the main seating area has been ripped out and ductwork in the foreground will be placed underneath the new slab to improve the ventilation system.