ENTERTAINMENT

‘It needs to stand’: Abravanel Hall is full of major milestones for one woman

Jun 26, 2024, 7:22 PM | Updated: 7:43 pm

SALT LAKE CITY — As Jennifer Oldroyd stands on the plaza of Abravanel Hall, she is flooded with memories of the performing arts venue.

“This is probably my first memory that I have of Abravanel Hall,” she said. “Playing in the fountains out front of the Hall. They used to have fountains out in the front.”

To her, Abravanel Hall matters on a cultural level and a personal level. She went from playing out front, to playing violin in the lobby, and at 14-years-old playing in a competition on the stage.

“It felt enormous,” she said. “It felt huge. (And) it was a goal I had since I started playing the violin.”

The future of Abravanel Hall

Now, her signature is one of more than 44,000 on a petition to save Abravanel Hall.

“Sports are great and I’m all for the new hockey arena, but I would hate to see it adversely affect Abravanel Hall,” Oldroyd said.

New images from Smith Entertainment Group of a revitalized downtown Salt Lake City, show a corridor that includes culture.

The question about the future of Abravanel Hall, however, remains.

Utah Symphony CEO Steve Brosvik offered some insight. He said the needed renovations for Abravanel Hall will come at a high cost. It needs a new interior sprinkler system to bring it up to code and the HVAC system is connected to the Salt Palace and the museum. It would have to be separated from them.

Abravanel Hall opened in 1979, before the Americans with Disabilties Act. However, ADA compliance now, Brosvik said, is necessary.

“Do we all think it’s prudent and would like to do it? Yes. It’s also huge financial question,” he said.

Abravanel Hall seats 2,800. If it’s demolished, would there be a plan to build a smaller concert hall?

‘No amount of money’ could convince symphony musicians to give up their home in Abravanel Hall

“Yes, could we function very well, with a smaller building?” Brosvik said.  “And the theory with a smaller acoustic concert hall of really, there’s kind of a sweet spot between 1,800 and 2,000 seats.”

And would that concert hall have the same quality of acoustics that Abravanel Hall has?

Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson has said that would be a priority of any new hall.

Brosvik said that under the leadership of Maestro Thierry Fischer the symphony has achieved artistic growth.

“The impact of this organization across the state has developed immensely with his work with our musicians,” he said. “And our goal is to continue that trajectory moving forward. We want to be more impactful to this community, not less.”

A decision out of their control

The fate of Abravanel Hall is not, Brosvik said, his decision or the musicians.

“We’re not ultimately going to be able to control that decision,” he said. “It’s not going to be in our hands. Our goal is to keep working with everybody to find a creative way for this building to be an active and engaged part of this new district, we think there has to be some creative solution that can make that happen.”

Oldroyd hopes that the solution is to keep Abravanel Hall.

“I feel more strongly than ever that I really don’t want to see this place go anywhere,” she said.

When she became engaged in 1995, she said the question of where to host the reception wasn’t a question at all.

“I had so many different experiences here growing up, it was just such a big part of my fabric,” Oldroyd said.

On her wedding day, a snowstorm was on display outside Abravanel Hall’s multi-story windows.

“We just greeted them at the reception line while we were watching it come down. It just gives me goosebumps remembering it now,” she said. “That’s something that I will never forget.”

Major life milestones woven by a common thread that Oldroyd called irreplaceable.

“This place is iconic – aesthetically, acoustically, it needs to stand.”

The money to renovate or rebuild Abravanel Hall, Wilson said, will have to come from the legislature. That decision will not come until early 2025.

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‘It needs to stand’: Abravanel Hall is full of major milestones for one woman