Crystal Luong
Assistant News Editor
Fences are falling, noise levels declining and dust particles dissipating.
Students can say goodbye to any frustrations about detours en route to Appleby Center and Seaver’s main campus.
The 10-week long renovations to Smothers Theatre will be completed this Saturday, according to Marnie Mitze, director of Center for the Arts.
“We hope that everyone who visits the theatre and plaza will appreciate the improvements, both in utility and aesthetics, and will enjoy learning, working and visiting in the renovated spaces,” said Rod Leard, construction project manager.
Plans for improvements to the venue began two years ago with a need to upgrade restrooms to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, Mitze said, and snowballed into a much larger project.
The Smothers lobby has expanded and will feature a constellations-themed ceiling over the box office and a new Persian rug to cover the lobby floors.
Men’s and women’s restrooms, which now have wheelchair-accessible stalls and can accommodate almost double their prior capacity, have swapped sides in the building.
One change that patrons may not notice, but will make a significant difference to the production staff, is an improved orchestra pit, Mitze said.
The pit, which formerly required staff to manually lift it from below, now has hydraulics and can function with the push of a button.
“The new orchestra pit rules,” said Brian Williams, theatre professor-and assistant technical director. “It’ll make work much safer and easier.”
Students agree.
“I no longer have to fear for my life,” said sophomore Stephen Banks, a theater production design major.
Exterior changes to Smothers include two new fountains, additional benches and a new row of palm trees to pull together the plaza between the theater and the Weisman Museum.
“This is stunning,” Mitze said. “I’m so thrilled from a user perspective.”
The pending campus-wide budget reallocation has affected the Center for the Arts, but most funding for the Smothers project has come from one-time University repair and renovation funds, according to Mitze.
Although the University provides the Center for the Arts with a budget for staffing and maintenance, the center’s primary source of income is revenue generated by fund-raising events and ticket sales to the more than 100,000 visitors who attend about 300 public events that stream through Smothers annually.
Mitze said the improvements to the 25-year-old theater, the first renovations since its construction, were overdue.
“Now we can compete with any other performing arts theater in the area,” she said.
Junior Heather Ilizaliturri, who works in the Smothers box office, is excited about the project’s completion.
“I’m satisfied with it because it’s more accommodating to the workers and people coming to see the shows,” she said.
A concert by classical guitarist Christopher Parkening and baritone Jubilant Sykes will kick off the grand re-opening of Smothers Theatre at 8 p.m. Saturday.
09-16-2004