Toronto firm wins bid to rethink Boettcher Concert Hall

By Marc Shulgold, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 1, 2008 at 9:17 p.m.
Updated July 1, 2008 at 9:35 p.m.

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Diamond and Schmitt at a glance

* Founded: 1975 by Jack Diamond and Donald Schmitt

* Number of employees: 125, including 14 principal architects

* Portfolio: Projects in 10 countries, including buildings for universities, libraries, biomedical research and health care, sports facilities, master planning and urban design

* Performing arts projects: Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto; the renovation of the Max M. Fisher Music Center, home of the Detroit Symphony; and the Sidney Harman Hall, the new home of the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.

* Awards: More than 140, including 2004 Architect of the Year by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada

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A Canadian architectural firm that suggested a dramatic glass facade facing Speer Boulevard for Boettcher Concert Hall's renovation in a recent presentation has won the right to redesign the hall.

The city's Division of Theatres and Arenas announced Tuesday that Toronto-based Diamond and Schmitt was chosen to design the renovation for the 30- year-old hall, home of the Colorado Symphony.

The announcement follows a process that culminated last week with presentations from the six finalists vying for the $90 million project. In November, voters approved a $60 million bond issue that paved the way for a major redo of the city-owned hall.

Because the project's 18-member selection panel had signed a confidentiality agreement, no details could be disclosed on the decision to hire Diamond and Schmitt, said Doug Adams, president of the Colorado Symphony.

"I can tell you that we had six really good choices (among the finalists)," he said. "We couldn't go wrong with any of them."

Contract talks with the architectural firm will begin soon and could last as long as two months.

The city also announced three acoustics firms as finalists for the Boettcher project - Acoustic Dimensions of New Rochelle, N.Y.; Akustiks of South Norwalk, Conn.; and Kirkegaard Associates of Chicago. One will be chosen to join the renovation team, headed by the Toronto-based firm and its local representatives at OZ Architects.

Jack Finlaw, director of the Division of Theatres and Arenas, said that Jack Diamond and Gary McCluskie will be principal architects for the project, with Joe Levi serving in that role for OZ.

Once the complete team is in place, most likely by the fall, months of planning will begin, Finlaw said. Public meetings will be held, he said, adding, "The people of Denver have a $60 million stake in this project, so of course we will solicit their input."

Reached at his vacation cabin in Nova Scotia on Tuesday, Diamond expressed happiness at being selected, stressing that his detailed presentation to the panel last week was not meant as a design approach, but "to demonstrate our capabilities, to show that we understand the problems and the objective."

That presentation featured a dramatic glass facade facing Speer Boulevard and an enclosed shoebox hall rising above the current building in the Performing Arts Complex.

Diamond stressed the importance of "getting it done quickly," noting that "(a short) downtime for the CSO away from Boettcher is critical to keeping its audience intact."

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