I stand corrected, and apologise for my hasty comment. I guess it was less
a tale of greed than a tale of mismanagement, if that: doubtless other
aspects of the hall improved with the renovation, and attendance probably
increased.

It would be interesting to know if the CSO, internally, considered the
renovation successful.

Marcos

--On Friday, April 07, 2006 7:27 PM -0400 Don Tait <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Brenda is correct. It's true that air conditioning was added to
> Orchestra Hall during the 1966 renovation, but the project was
> undertaken for far bigger reasons. The majority were calamities, above
> all the idea that the sound of the hall could be improved, whereas it
> was wrecked. But another was the practical one of giving the CSO members
> a reasonably comfortable backstage space for themselves, which they'd
> never had. I remember standing on Michigan Avenue during the summer of
> 1966 and looking through the glass on Orchestra Hall's doors. I could
> see traffic on Wabash Avenue, a block behind the building. Everything in
> Orchestra Hall, including its stage and back wall, was gone. All was
> rebuilt and reconfigured during the renovation.
>
> Don Tait



Marcos