Music Hall expansion plan clears Historic District Commission

[Airforceguy]

The final design, reviewed by the HDC at its Wednesday meeting, includes updates for the building's roof and the decorative screen that will encircle the building. Music Hall President Vince Paul said the project is expected to go before City Council early next year, but it must first secure approval from the city Economic Development Corp. to issue $80 million in tax-exempt 501[[c)3 bonds for the $122 million expansion.The Economic Development Corp. meeting scheduled for Tuesday was canceled, Paul said. The group's next meeting is set for Jan. 9, according to its website.

The 100,000-square-foot, multi-story expansion is slated for construction on the parking lot at the corner of Madison and Randolph streets in downtown Detroit, next to Music Hall.
As planned, it will include a new, contemporary concert venue with capacity for 1,900 people, recording studios, offices for agents and other music industry professionals and a music academy operated by the nonprofit.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/arts-c...-commission-ok

[401don]

Aside from the fact that there's no need for another 2,000 seat venue, does this not overlap somewhat with the Max M. Fisher Center?

[Gistok]

Not a fan of the design at all... very plain, and yet it appears to overpower the existing historic Music Hall.

For $122 million they could have restored the late 2000 seat United Artists Theatre, and have a venue with breathtaking opulence, and acoustic perfection.

[canuck]

Not a fan of the design at all... very plain, and yet it appears to overpower the existing historic Music Hall.

For $122 million they could have restored the late 2000 seat United Artists Theatre, and have a venue with breathtaking opulence, and acoustic perfection.

Right. The fit just isn’t there.

There is something vaguely and not quite japanesque about it.

[Hans320i]

Right. The fit just isn’t there.

There is something vaguely and not quite japanesque about it.

vaguely japanesque; vaguely Frank Lloyd Wright-ish....emphasis on the ish. How many of those "screens" are being pulled off historic beauties after ill-conceived wreckovations of the 50s-80s? Sad that they couldn't come up with something that fits in with the surroundings better.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Everyone complains that everything looks alike. Then when something is different, we hear that it doesn’t fit.

I like this design.

[Gistok]

^ The "fit in" comment also applies to the fact that the side of this structure will be facing historic Harmonie Park.

[southen]

I like the screen. This rendering doesn't do it any favors but this is simply to show the mass of the building. The more photorealistic renderings from before show the intent of the design. I think Detroit needs as much architectural diversity as possible and I think just looking at Hudson's you can see the impact that such structures can make, while also allowing you to appreciate the historic buildings we have. These buildings can play off of each other.

I am not really a fan of the roof at a distance but it appears as thought the slope is such that when close it will really minimize how much of that you end up seeing. The programming of this building is going to be great though. It will act as a visitors center in many ways which is something we oddly don't have at all downtown.

[Jason]

I'm personally not a huge fan of the design.

I like screens in general and I think the screen is a good solution for the problem, but I think the designs they've had have had this kind of tacky midcentury variety show set design vibe. There are so many just incredibly beautiful screens on buildings around the world nowadays. I think something very simple and conservative like this [[https://www.archdaily.com/926222/unc...medium=gallery) would look great but there are a lot of more extreme and geometric ones that would look great too. I think even what they have would be perfectly fine if it weren't for all the "bits" put onto it.

The "hat" is just very weird formally, and it also blocks the view of the Music Hall sign. I'm guessing this is some misguided attempt at being contextual, since there are some nearby buildings with sloped roofs.

But for the actual context of the site... the site terminates the beaux arts axis created by Madison. imo, the corner should be chamfered such that that part of the facade is orthogonal to Madison Avenue. And then maybe some kind of vertical element on the center of the axis. Chamfering the corner would also make a small plaza outside the building, space to more comfortably hold the number of people coming and going from events.

Along the same lines, yes there is an alley and so the buildings are not connected on the ground floor, which isn't ideal. But why not extend the screen over the alley, so that the new and old facade form one continuous facade? Or maybe the sunscreen would be set back a bit so that it hit the old building at the boundary between the fancy facade and the alley facade? And why not have the height of the screen match the height of the old facade? Additions to buildings definitely don't need to emulate the old building, but the two parts should still form some kind of cohesive whole.

[canuck]

Excellent points as always, Jason.

I approve your ideas on height alignment and chamfering.

[gratiotfaced]

What's going on with this? I haven't heard any news since that meeting in January. Anyone got an update or timeline?

[Gistok]

I haven't... but then they are a non-profit group. I wonder if donors are balking at the price tag.

$120 million for a 2000 seat venue on such a small footprint seems like quite a hefty price. For that price they could have restored the [now raze] United Artists 2000 seat movie palace... or conributed most of the funds needed to restore the 4050 seat former Michigan Theatre, which suprisingly, still has half of the theatre extant.

[1953]

This design does not fit into the surrounding historic district at all. It will degrade the quality of the district and detract from its appeal. The Music Hall should do better.

1953