Powers Auditorium

Infobox Venue
name = Powers Auditorium


image_caption = West facing facade of Powers Auditorium, facing the Ford Recital Hall
nickname = Powers
location = 260 West Federal Street
Youngstown, Ohio
coordinates =
type = Indoor theatre
broke_ground =
built =
opened = May 14, 1931
renovated = 1969
expanded = 2006
closed =
demolished =
owner = The Youngstown Symphony
former_names = Warner Theatre
seating_type = Reserved
seating_capacity = 2,303

Powers Auditorium, in Youngstown, Ohio is the largest auditorium in the Youngstown-Warren area. The facility is the main venue of downtown Youngstown's DeYor Performing Arts Center. (The complex also includes the Adler Art Academy, Beecher Flad Pavilion, and Ford Family Recital Hall).

The main tenant of Powers Auditorium is the Youngstown Symphony, which performs from October through May. The facility also hosts other musical acts, touring Broadway productions, and locally produced theater (primarily from Ballet Western Reserve and Easy Street Productions, two Youngstown-based theater companies).

Designed by the prominent theater architects Rapp and Rapp, Powers opened as the Warner Theatre on May 14, 1931, part of the massive chain of theaters operated by the Warner Brothers film company. The structure was built as a memorial to the late Sam Warner, who along with his brothers, resided in Youngstown before embarking on a career in film production.cite news
title = A Sam Warner Memorial – Brothers Will Build a $1,000,000 Movie Theatre in Youngstown
work = The New York Times
page = 31
date = March 19, 1930 ] The Warner Theatre operated until 1968, when it was scheduled to be demolished to make way for a parking lot. A public outcry prompted the Edward W. Powers family to donate $250,000 to preserve the structure. The theater was preserved and renovated in 1969. Many items in the theater were auctioned off, and the auditorium underwent extensive acoustical renovation in order to make it a suitable concert hall. In September of that year, the building was re-christened as Powers Auditorium with a performance by the Youngstown Symphony.

Today, Powers Auditorium can hold a capacity crowd of 2,303. An impressive remnant of the golden age of cinema, the former movie theater is included on the National Register of Historic Places. In recent years, the structure's Art Deco facade was restored to its original appearance. Meanwhile, the building continues to be expanded.

In 2000, a new East Wing was completed, giving the Symphony a music library and administrative office, as well as an elevator and equipment that brought Powers up to standard in handicap accessibility. Recently completed is the Beecher Flad Pavilion, comprised of the Ford Recital Hall, 600-seat auditorium for orchestra, brass, and choral performances; new kitchen facilities, new dressing rooms, expanded loading docks, and soundproofing so that Powers and the new auditorium can be used simultaneously.

References

ee also

* List of concert halls

External links

* [http://www.youngstownsymphony.com/home.htm The Youngstown Symphony]
* [http://cinematreasures.org/theater/1695/ Listing for Powers Auditorium at Cinema Treasures]