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LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A $2.5 million, 10-month renovation project has been completed at Swarthout Recital Hall on the University of Kansas campus.
The hall has been the music school's primary academic performance space since 1957. According to school officials, the hall has hosted more than a million patrons and has staged more than 300 performances every year, making it the most-used concert venue in Kansas. However, it had not been renovated for decades, prompting the university to begin the renovation project last year.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports (http://bit.ly/1NrRKPe ) the hall will reopen with an eight-concert series starting Monday. Dozens of alumni are scheduled to perform during the series.
The renovation included 273 new seats, a new performance area with improved acoustics, audio, lighting and recording equipment. The hall also has a new Steinway piano and a green room.
The music school's dean, Robert Walzel, says the renovation was funded by a $1 million gift from the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation and donations from "people in Lawrence who are passionate about music and the School of Music."
During the fundraising campaign for the renovation, school officials stressed that the hall's name would remain the same. The performance space is named after Donald Swarthout, who served as the university's dean of Fine Arts from 1923 to 1950. The educator, who was referred to as "The Dean," was also the president of the Music Teachers National Association from 1931 to 1932.
An interview with Swarthout's granddaughter, Elisabeth Hayes, about the former dean will be shown during Monday's opening concert.
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Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, http://www.ljworld.com
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