Carnegie Music Hall reopens after major renovation
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A historic landmark in Pittsburgh is ready to delight audiences once again. Carnegie Music Hall is back open after it underwent its first major renovation in its nearly 130-year history.
In 1895, Andrew Carnegie wanted Carnegie Music Hall to be the center of Pittsburgh's musical scene, a gift to the city. Decades later, it's still standing, with its original aesthetics and acoustics, but it just got a facelift in the span of nearly nine months.
President and CEO of Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh Steven Knapp said it's a long time coming.
"It still has all of its original kind of magnificence as a gathering spot for the community," Knapp said.
"We're now going to expand the usability of this for the whole community," he added.
Knapp said one of the biggest changes was installing AC, giving them the opportunity to stay open for concerts, speaking events, graduations and weddings year-round.
It wasn't an easy task.
Director of construction and project management Melissa Simonetti said the renovation was complex and detail-oriented. The goal was to preserve as much as possible.
"You're dealing with something that's over 100 years old, so it brings about all sorts of challenges that you might not have with a modern project," Simonetti said.
Conservators and painters worked together to clean panels with cotton swabs and vinegar and match modern colors to the original artwork.
They also used a team of in-house paleontologists to make molds of the light sconces, like they do with dinosaur bones, to replace the broken fixtures.
As for what's new, there are now custom-designed chairs for the entire hall.
"We worked by taking the original gold leaf designs that are on the wall and we kind of replicated that on the side panels of the chairs," Simonetti said.
Then they re-sloped the floor to make it ADA-compliant and put in new electrical and sound systems along with LED light bulbs.
"Just to know that you're working on something that's going to be here for the next 100 years is, it's amazing," Simonetti said.
It represents a new beginning for the cultural landmark.
"Maybe in another 130 years, we'll have to upgrade the sound system again," Knapp said.
The first event in the renovated space will happen on Sunday with a performance by the Carnegie Mellon University Philharmonic.