Fund Drive Under Way To Elevate U-M's Hill: Improved Backstage, Access, Comfort In Plans

Fund drive under way to elevate U-M's Hill

Improved backstage, access, comfort in plans

By Christopher Potter, News Arts Writer

If ghosts had the power to sing and play, Hill Auditorium could put on a show for eternity. The venerable University of Michigan concert hall could fill an encyclopedia with the 20th-century musicians, conductors, singers and orchestras who have performed on its stage.

Conductors? How about Stokowski, Koussevitsky, Ormandy, Von Karajan, Reiner, Bernstein, Szell, Solti, for starters. Singers? How about Caruso, Richard Tucker, Robert Merrill, Leontyne Price, Marilyn Horne, Joan Sutherland, and U-M alumna Jessye Norman?

Musicians: Try Sergei Rachmaninoff, Jasha Heifetz, Valdimir Horowitz, Arthur Rubenstein, Issac Stern, Rudolf Serken, Mstislav Rostropovich, Itz-hak Perlman and Yo Yo Ma. Orchestras? Try just about any, from Chicago to Philadelphia to New York to Boston to Cleveland to Vienna to Berlin to Leningrad- and at least a hundred more.

Then there are the operas and popular singers who've graced Hill- from "Porgy and Bess" to Ella Fitzgerald. Sometimes famous folks would simply come to talk, from Will Rogers to Robert Frost to Eleanor Roosevelt to Jane Fonda to Hunter S. Thompson.

This parade of VIPs brings to mind a mystic aura of permanence and invulnerability. Permanent? One would hope. But invulnerable? Not by a long shot.

Any 80-year-old inevitably turns decrepit, whether one is speaking of people or buildings. Anyone who's ever performed at Hill is aware of the claustrophic dressing quarters, in marked contrast to the large scale of the building as a whole. The same goes for Hill's undersized restroom facilities.

Then there’s the lack of an air conditioning system, which limits Hill’s usage to slightly more than half of any given year, and the in-accessible-to-the-handicapped second and third-floor balconies. Even the auditorium’s main lobby, which may appear ample when it's deserted, can turn into a shoe box of wall-to-wall people during intermission of a well attended concert.

“That’s why things have to change,” says Anneke Overseth, senior development officer at U-M and overseer of the Campaign for Hill, a preservation, restoration and expansion fund-raiser that officially kicks off today.

The renovation project was recently approved by The U-M Board of Regents, which committed $10 million to the renovation’s projected $20 million price tag. “That means the other $10 million has to come from private donors," says Overseth. Already, the Campaign for Hill has received $2 million toward its private-source goal.

The Campaign's 13-member committee is chaired by Judith Dow Alexander, and also includes an honorary committee featuring such musical luminaries as Van Cliburn, James Galway, Yehudi Menuhin, Andre Previn, Pinchas Zukerman and many others. "They all care very much about Hill," says U-M School of Music Chairman Paul C. Boylan. "And we're very grateful for that."

Overseth agrees that the notion of Hill Auditorium's invulnerability can be a handicap in fund-raising. "I think everybody thinks of it as being wonderful in every way. They don't see the bad side.

"I'd like to take groups of people through the (back-stage) labyrinth at Hill. It's shabby, very shabby. It needs help."

Adds Boylan: "It was always the principle to put the money into the music-chamber area, the auditorium itself, and to sacrifice the backstage area. Now we plan to considerably expand that area."

For the project, the University has engaged Detroit's Albert Kahn Associates Inc., founded by the famous original architect of Hill Auditorium. Backstage expansion will include a first-floor artists' lounge, kitchen and offices. Upper floors will include six large dressing rooms and warm-up areas, two medium dressing rooms and four private dressing rooms, as well as a glass wall with sections that open when the weather permits.

Other improvements range from basic repairs of lighting, plumbing, windows and foundations, as well as a new paint job. Hill's antiquated heating system will be moved, lobby fixtures will be replaced by fixtures matching those originally hung in 1913, and an elevator will be installed to provide handicap access to both basement and balcony levels.

Overseth is especially enthusiastic about Hill's projected, innovative air conditioning system. "It won't be located in or under the building, but will be erected in an underground passage between Hill and the Modern Language Building. The space underneath the auditorium will be converted into a basement lobby including, we hope, a grand staircase."

Boylan calls the air system's distancing from the building a crucial factor. "That's very exciting, because it means there will be no sound transmission in terms of air movement. Our priority has always been preserving the hall's acoustics. That's always at the forefront of our concern. And with this plan, the restoration will be conducted in a way that won't change the accoustics at all." Boyland says the University has been working closely with R. Lawrence Kirkegaard & Associates, noted acoustical consultants.

The restoration is projected to be completed within three years, assuming the necessary funds have been secured. "The renovation and construction of Hill's performing area will be done during the summer," says Overseth. "Meantime the work on the backstage area can continue throughout the year. It would be wonderful if both projects could be finished at the same time."

And though the bulk of the $8 million still to be raised will most likely be obtained from foundation and corporation, Overseth and Boylan agree they'd love to attract as many individual donors to the campaign as possible. "We'd love to get everybody involved who values Hill for the treasure it is," says Overseth. "It's a major auditorium of the world."

Adds Boylan, "It's important to keep in mind that Hill is not only a University of Michigan auditorium. It's a community and regional cultural resource, and we all have a stake in not only preserving it, but bringing it up to community standards. I'm very hopeful."

Donations to The Campaign for Hill may be pledged over a three-to-five-year period. All gifts to the University of Michigan are tax-deductible, as provided by law.

Quote: '...Hill is not only a University of Michigan auditorium. It's a community and regional cultural resource, and we all have a stake in not only preserving it, but bringing it up to community standards.'

-Paul Boylan, chairman U-M School of Music

Picture: Hill auditorium's capacious stage and auditorium conceals need for improvement to its support facilities.