Renovation Fact Sheet

Project Description:

A comprehensive modernization and restoration of New York City Center to dramatically enhance audience and artist experiences while bringing back the beauty and charm of the organization’s landmarked theater.

Location:

West 55th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues

Owner:

City of New York

Tenant:

New York City Center

Renovation Details:

The renovation was carried out in two phases, ensuring that there was no significant interruption to the world-class programs and performances presented at City Center.

Phase 1 (April – September 2010)
focused on backstage areas, including:

- A new, state-of-the-art sprung stage floor

- Improved backstage facilities, including upgrades to lighting and rigging equipment and refurbished dressing rooms

Phase 2 (March – October 2011)
Focused on improving the audience’s experience front-of-house, including:

- A total of 2,257 new and reconfigured mainstage seats, significantly improving audience comfort and sightlines

- A new elevator and upgrade of the existing elevator, additional and refurbished restrooms and redesigned bars to enhance the front-of-house experience

- A new, heated 55th Street marquee, blade signs, and dramatic lighting for City Center’s historic façade, highlighting the landmark theater and giving the entrance a more recognizable street presence

- A beautifully restored box office lobby with refurbished glazed terra cotta mosaic tiles and ceiling

- A reconfigured and enlarged orchestra lobby, improving audience flow and fusing the historic feel of City Center with modern amenities

- A renovated Grand Tier lobby with a fully restored stenciled ceiling and decorative wall murals

- An enlarged and refurbished patrons lounge

The renovation is designed to achieve LEED Silver certification for energy efficiencyand to improve handicap accessibility.” with “The renovation was designed to achieve LEED Silver certification for energy efficiency and improve handicap accessibility. Click here (PDF) to learn more about the many green elements of the renovated facility.

Funding:

Principal funding for the project was through Stepping Forward: The Campaign for City Center, a $75 million campaign — currently 85% of the way toward its goal — which realized the renovation of the landmarked building and will also support City Center’s acclaimed programs. The project already has a strong base of support, including a major commitment from the City of New York to renovate the city-owned property, with funds coming from the Office of the Mayor through the Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York City Council and the Office of the Manhattan Borough President.

Key Dates:

April 2010	Phase 1 commenced
September 2010	Phase 1 completed
March 2011	Phase 2 commenced
October 2011	Grand re-opening of theater

Organization Leadership:

Raymond A. Lamontagne, Chair
Arlene Shuler, President and CEO

Original Architect:

Harry P. Knowles and the firm of Clinton & Russell

Renovation Architect:

Ennead Architects LLP
Duncan Hazard, Partner-in-Charge

Owner's Representative:

Levien & Company, Inc.

Construction Manager:

F. J. Sciame Construction Co., Inc.

Engineers:

Cosentini Associates, MEP
WSP Cantor Seinuk, Structural

Theatre Consultant:

Fisher/Dachs Associates, Inc.

Acoustical Consultants:

Kirkegaard & Associates

Architectural Lighting Consultant:

Brandston Partnership, Inc.

Preservation Consultant:

Li Saltzman Architects

Building History:

Built in 1923 as a Moorish-style meeting hall for the Ancient Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, the former temple officially became New York City Center on December 11, 1943, with Mayor La Guardia taking the baton to conduct the New York Philharmonic in the national anthem. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, City Center flourished as a popular, affordable alternative to the Broadway theater, the Metropolitan Opera House and Carnegie Hall. City Center was so successful in fostering the performing arts that New York City Opera, New York City Ballet and New York City Symphony were formed under its dome. A very young Leonard Bernstein conducted the New York City Symphony in low-cost, after-work concerts. Luminaries of the theater including Paul Robeson, Orson Welles and Tallulah Bankhead played the classics on City Center’s stage. Still-rising stars such as Bob Fosse and Walter Matthau appeared in popular revivals of Broadway musicals.

Then, after the opening of Lincoln Center and the departure of New York City Opera and New York City Ballet, the building fell into disuse and was threatened with demolition. It was saved in the 1970s when, under the leadership of then-Chairman Howard M. Squadron, the theater was rededicated as New York’s premiere home for dance and given landmark status, and the City Center 55th Street Foundation was formed to manage the complex and ensure its survival as a performing arts center. By this point, however, much of the vintage architectural detail had faded or been covered up, and the functional shortcomings of a former Shriners’ hall had never been adequately addressed in converting the building into a home for dance and musical theater. The grand reopening in October 2011 of the modernized and restored theater has given way to a new era for the building and the New York City Center organization.

Façade Restoration Architects:

Dattner Architects designed the restoration of the landmarked West 56th street façade of New York City Center. The brick, stone and glazed terracotta elements of the façade were repaired and replaced as necessary, under the review of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Construction was phased to allow the project to remain in operation throughout the restoration, and the work was coordinated with the construction of a new entrance canopy and interior renovation, designed by Ennead.