Foundation for Jones Hall Announces $50 Million Renovation Plans for Iconic Performing Arts Facility This Summer and Beyond

The Foundation for Jones Hall (FJH) announces renovation plans for Jones Hall, Houston’s iconic performing arts center, focused on significantly improving patron, musician and artist experiences. This renewal is designed to bring the building up to the highest standards in technology and operations, while incorporating modern amenities. Renovations, which range from state-of-the-art acoustical and infrastructure improvements to new, relocated restrooms; new, wider stairways; an expanded Green Room and lobby expansion/improvements, will continue over the coming summers and will build upon the first phase of renovations completed in 2020 and 2021.

Jones Hall, which opened in downtown Houston in 1966, is home to both the world-renowned Houston Symphony and Performing Arts Houston (formerly Society for the Performing Arts), which presents internationally acclaimed artists across the performing arts spectrum. Both organizations have unique performance needs that have evolved and grown in the last century, particularly for acoustics and amplification. They enthusiastically support the multi-phase renovation plan funded with private donations from FJH’s capital campaign, “Overture to the Future,” which has already raised more than $25.5 million in support of the projected $50 million renovation total in less than one year. Donors to date include an anonymous donor, Houston Endowment, the Robert and Jane Cizik family, Janet Clark, Nancy and Chuck Davidson, the Shirley and David Toomin family, and the City of Houston.

Jones Hall renovations will be done primarily during the summer months outside of the Symphony and Performing Arts Houston official seasons, thus the need for a phased, multi-year approach. In 2020, two new aisles were created on each side of the center orchestra section to improve accessibility and flow through the performing hall.

In summer 2021, the focus was on acoustic work, including custom construction with sidewall and alcove “infills,” using metal framing with four layers of sheetrock for acoustic density. This was covered by a wood veneer finish. The infills corrected echoes and sound delays that impacted musical performances and allowed sound to be evenly distributed throughout the hall. Acoustics for conductors, musicians and audience members were substantially improved, with overwhelmingly positive feedback from these groups.

Says Barbara McCelvey, board president for the Foundation for Jones Hall, “We were thrilled by the impact made during first phase of work. The acoustical improvements were noticed immediately by musicians and audiences. And while the no-aisle continental seating layout was popular in the 1960s, our patrons have long wished for easier ways to get to their seats, whether from front to back or from one side to the other. The response to the first phase gives us confidence and momentum for the next phases of work we’ll undertake over the next few summers.”

For summer 2022 work, beginning in June, the projects will continue to tackle infrastructure and acoustics, which will positively impact performers and hall operations, while also providing the unparalleled performing arts experience that Houston audiences have come to expect. These include:

• Refinishing of the stage floor and rebuilding of orchestra pit floors and the area where they meet the stage
• Replacement of hydraulic lifts for the orchestra pit with a new lifting system, which will modernize this important piece of stage automation, allowing for gentle, quiet movement and stable support of the stage and orchestra pit
• Work to replumb and redirect cable and conduit, while removing electrical equipment to further modernize infrastructure
• Replacement of the audio network, which consists of the equipment and data network that support amplified performances, to further revamp acoustics in the hall for musicians and patrons for superior sound

Renovation work in 2022 will serve as a bridge to 2023 and beyond. Future phases will further improve the performance environment as well as the patron experience. By the end of 2023, significant additional acoustical improvements will be made, and renovations will begin to the Green Room, the lobby and other public spaces, easing lobby congestion and patron “pinch points” throughout the entire facility. The lobby layout will be expanded, while undergoing a transformation to improve the aesthetics.

Additionally, new seats will be installed in the concert hall, ADA improvements will be made for greater wheelchair accessibility and restrooms will be added, expanded and relocated, including those on the courtyard level. It will be possible to access the restrooms with only a short flight of stairs, rather than a long walk up and down, while widened stairways between levels will also be a welcome change for patrons.

Other technical and infrastructure renovations, including backstage, will make Jones Hall a better place for all to perform, work and enjoy the performing arts. For example, state of the art lighting and rigging systems will replace antiquated equipment to improve the efficiency of backstage work. New stage automation control will modernize how large pieces of scenery, electrics, and audio-visual components are used in the venue, while the introduction of fiber networks will enable the hall to unitize the full potential of entertainment industry technology today and into the future.

Houston Symphony CEO John Mangum reports that the renovation will result in a superior experience for the orchestra and audiences alike. “The Symphony is excited that the renovation of this architecturally significant hall will continue to honor its original purpose, supporting a variety of art forms, but with significant improvements that will have a lasting impact on the quality of the audiences’ experience of live orchestral performance.”

Meg Booth, CEO of Performing Arts Houston, agrees. “Theater technology and the audience experience have changed a lot over the past 50 plus years, and we need to improve on both of these areas,” she says. “We have been fortunate to present some of the world’s most in-demand artists at Jones Hall. The planned changes will greatly strengthen our ability to keep attracting these artists to Houston while providing an improved audience experience. The acoustic improvements this past summer are significant and additional planned updates are much needed and very exciting.”

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner applauds the project and notes that it coincides with the public’s return to the art scene following two years of upheaval during the pandemic.

“Houston has a dynamic and robust love for the arts, which are an integral part of our city’s identity and essential to the quality of life. We are fortunate to have a private partner in the Foundation for Jones Hall led by citizens who developed a first-rate master plan and raised funds to restore an iconic building that gave rise to Houston’s performing arts more than 50 years ago. I am glad the City of Houston and Houston First can participate in a meaningful way in this vital effort. Every Houstonian will benefit from this magnificent project.”

Michael Heckman, CEO of Houston First Corporation agrees. “As the operator of Jones Hall on behalf of the City, we would like to congratulate the Foundation on the success of this campaign and express our gratitude for the generous financial gifts that will improve one of our city’s premier venues. Houston First recognizes the hard work by the Foundation to make upgrades that will enhance the experience for the audience and the artists.”

History of Jones Hall

Jones Hall, the vision of businessman Jesse Holman Jones, was the first purpose-built performing arts facility in Houston, given to the City by the Houston Endowment and dedicated in 1966 as home to the Houston Symphony, Houston Ballet, Houston Grand Opera and Performing Arts Houston. It is owned by the City of Houston and managed by the Houston First Corporation, with Foundation for Jones Hall managing backstage operations. The original cost was $7.4 million.

Designed by then-Houston firm Caudill Rowlett Scott in the formalism style, the architecture was radically new and has stood the test of time, with numerous awards received over the years. Jones Hall’s design has been praised as “ingenious and stunning.”

The architects faced the challenge of building an enormous concert hall on a small downtown block. Rather than aligning the entrance, lobby and performance hall, the designers placed the auditorium diagonally and wrapped the lobby around it. High above the lobby is sculptor Richard Lippold’s “Gemini II,” a gossamer web of aluminum and wire commissioned by Houston Endowment.

Both modern and classical, with sheer walls of marble and eight-story columns, Jones Hall won the national American Institute of Architects’ Honor Award one year after opening. With some 800 adjustable acoustic pods attached to the concert hall ceiling, the hall was billed as having the most advanced sound technology of its era.

However, the original acoustical technology, while advanced at the time of opening, needs modernization, according to engineers, acousticians and musicians. The new state-of-the-art renovations should resolve the acoustics concerns.

“Overture to the Future”

The renovation plan demonstrates both the Hall’s and Houston’s resiliency. Plans for a renovated Jones Hall were well underway when Covid-19 hit in 2020, and the Symphony and Performing Arts Houston were forced to cancel their seasons. Both resident organizations sustained significant financial losses, and the Foundation for Jones Hall’s ticket surcharge revenue was eliminated almost overnight.

Because the Symphony and Performing Arts Houston need to continue full performance schedules to recover financially from the pandemic, FJH developed a multi-year renovation plan that addresses the most pressing needs with “Overture to the Future” and that works around the resident organizations’ performance calendars. Fundraising for the project is ongoing.

The design and consulting teams for Jones Hall consist of Ennead Architects (design architect for the project), Studio Red Architects (architect of record), Auerbach Pollock Friedlander (theater consultant), Threshold Acoustics, Walter P. Moore (structural engineers), Collaborative Engineering Group (MEP engineers), Bellows Construction, Forney Construction (project management) and the Building Committee of the FJH Board.

Says McCelvey, “Jones Hall has stood the test of time and gave rise to the Downtown Theater District over 50 years ago. We are thrilled to be making this new investment in the Hall so that it can serve millions of artists and the public for the next 50 and beyond.”

For more information about Jones Hall, please go to https://www.visithoustontexas.com/theater/venues/jones-hall/.