PACKARD PARK Music hall renovation plans moving forward

New doors, windows and baby-changing stations are among the highlights.
By MONICA BOND
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Plans to renovate Packard Music Hall "are in good shape," manager Christopher Stephenson told board members at the Packard Park Board of Trustees meeting Friday morning.
The renovations include renewed finishes, new tile and carpet, window and counter replacements, handicapped accessibility, introduction of air conditioning and other changes.
These renovations are funded with $100,000 from Ohio's capital budget, secured by state Rep. Randy Law of Warren, R-64th.
The next step in the process of renovating the bathrooms and dressing rooms -- two for individual headlining performers and two for groups -- is to submit the necessary paperwork to the Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission and to the city's engineering department, architect Doug Abbatiello said. Submitting the paperwork concludes the design phase of the project, he said.
Project details
Abbatiello said he met with the Packard Trustees Projects Committee in May and discussed "micro-details" of the project.
Some highlights of the music hall's renovation plans include new windows and baby-changing stations. The windows are to be pole-operated with high sashes and screens, which puts them out of guests' reach and lessens the chance of damage.
"One of the biggies was the inclusion of baby-changing facilities in each restroom," Abbatiello said.
The hall's front doors also will be replaced. Instead of the aluminum panel on the lower half of each door, the new front doors will be all glass. They will have round handles on the outside and triple parallel bars on the inside.
Stephenson expressed gratitude to the B.N. MacGregor Trust Fund, whose donation to the music hall is funding the new doors.
"They donated to the music hall and requested it be used for improvements," he said.
MacGregor was Packard president when the hall was built.