Symphony breaks ground for addition

It will be the first new theater built downtown since the 1930s.
YOUNGSTOWN -- After years of planning, the Youngstown Symphony broke ground Thursday for an addition to the Powers Auditorium complex.
The $4.2 million addition will be called the Eleanor Beecher Flad Pavilion and was designed by Ricciuti Balog and Partners Architects.
Welcoming remarks
Brief welcoming remarks by Richard A. Keyse, Youngstown Symphony Society president, were followed by responses by Eleanor Beecher Flad representing the Ward Beecher and Florence Simon Beecher foundations, the major contributors to the project, and by 1st Ward Councilman Artis Gillam Sr. for the city of Youngstown.
Others involved in the groundbreaking included Patricia Syak, executive director of the symphony; Isaiah Jackson, musical director; and Gary S. Balog, architect.
Flad said her parents "would have been delighted to see this project happen, especially with its support of the Dana School of Music." This interaction of the symphony with Dana bodes well for the cultural and educational future of Youngstown.
History
The 600-seat Ford Family Recital Hall is at the heart of the project, and, when opened in 2006, will be the first new theater built in the downtown since the 1930s and the first acoustically designed hall to be built in the Mahoning Valley. The stage can accommodate a full symphony orchestra with state-of-the-art acoustics, chamber ensembles, dance, theatrical performances, cinema screenings and important meetings.
Who uses the hall
The hall will be used by the Youngstown Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Dana School of Music ensembles, area arts organizations, and Students Motivated by the Arts, the symphony educational arm. There will also be sound recording and reproduction equipment for orchestral, ensemble and choral events.
In addition, the pavilion will be accessible to people with disabilities, will have new and upgraded kitchen facilities to serve the entire symphony center, dressing rooms and enlarged and improved loading and receiving areas to serve both Powers main stage events and those in the new hall.
There will be additional storage for delicate instruments, and complete soundproofing between the two halls so they can be used simultaneously. In addition, a gated garden accessible from the new lobby will provide a new landscaped space for symphony patrons and for the city.