Alice Tully Hall - History

History

Before the construction of Alice Tully Hall, most of the chamber music performances in New York City were held at The Town Hall on West 43rd Street, which had been built in 1921. The founders of Lincoln Center wished to have a chamber music hall in the complex, as there was still a need for a dedicated space. Before construction on Lincoln Center began, the architects considered placing a chamber music hall in the basement of Philharmonic Hall (since renamed Avery Fisher Hall). However, as the Juilliard School needed a concert hall that was equal in size to a chamber music hall, Lincoln Center decided to build one in the Juilliard building. Construction on the Juilliard building began in 1965 — on a site one block north of the original Lincoln Center complex and part of the parcel designated for improvement through urban renewal. The cost of the chamber music hall was approximately $4.2 million, all of which was covered by donations from Alice Tully, a New York chamber music patron and former singer.

Tully Hall was designed by architect Pietro Belluschi, and associate architects Eduardo Catalano and Helge Westermann. Renowned acoustician Heinrich Keilholz designed the hall’s acoustics. Alice Tully played an influential role in the design of the hall. "She was very, very particular and meticulous about her choices of colors and what she wanted in the hall that would bear her name," said Patrick McGinnis, former director of operations and manager of Alice Tully Hall, in a 1992 interview. Tully also insisted on there being ample space between the rows of seats, wishing concertgoers of all heights to be comfortable.

Tully Hall opened on September 11, 1969. Its opening night showcased the first concert of the new Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society. The New York Times praised the “restrained, elegant interior” of basswood, deep lavender carpeting, and raspberry seats,” and Mildred Schmertz of Architectural Record stated that Alice Tully Hall and the other auditoriums in the Juilliard School building “prove that it is possible to create elegant halls in contemporary terms without resorting to skimpy evocations of the gilt, plaster, and crystal décor of the great halls of the past.”

Since its opening, Tully Hall has served as a venue for numerous events, including Mostly Mozart, Great Performers, the New York Film Festivals, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 1975, a cathedral-sized, 4,192-pipe organ was installed.

Lincoln Center’s first three buildings — Avery Fisher Hall, David H. Koch Theater, and the Metropolitan Opera House — had been criticized since their completion. The buildings’ forms were derided for their “watered down” modernist take on Classicism, subpar acoustics, unusual interiors, and inept circulation schemes. Renovations over 50 years following their construction had helped overhaul the buildings, but much work was still required. The complex as a whole remained blatantly detached from the developing Lincoln Square area, and as such needed a more appealing and open public identity. Several renovation and remediation proposals — notably a glass-and-steel-canopy over the main plaza by Frank Gehry — were widely criticized and shelved.

In April 2004, Lincoln Center unveiled the designs by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (who were selected as the project’s design architect in 2003) and FXFOWLE for the first phase of its redevelopment project, which included the expansion of the Juilliard building and the redesign of Alice Tully Hall. The scheme received final approval and construction began in March 2006. The scheme was praised by many architecture critics, but it also received criticism from preservationists who wished to see the original Belluschi building remain intact. A 2005 proposal for landmark status was declined by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Docomomo International, an organization that works to protect twentieth-century Modernist buildings and sites was a leading organization protesting the renovation. The majority of the controversy has been focused on changes being made to other parts of Lincoln Center, in phase two of the redevelopment project.

By June 2006, Lincoln Center, Inc. had raised $339 million, 75% of the $459 million it was responsible for raising for the project. The total goal for the project was $650 million, and the remainder of the money was provided by the federal government and the governments of New York City and State. Lincoln Center also received 20 gifts of $5 million or more, nine of which were at $10 million and above. Donors were represented among individuals, corporations, and foundations, including Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Bank of New York Mellon.

Construction was completed and Tully Hall was re-opened in February 2009 with a two-week opening celebration. Reviews from the architectural community have been outstanding. The Juilliard expansion and renovation was projected to cost around $100 million, but is reported to have cost as much as $360 million (no official numbers have been released). The entire West 65th Street project was projected to cost $325 million. Charles Renfro, a partner at Diller Scofidio + Renfro, stated that the sum was probably twice as high as it would have cost to tear down Belluschi’s building and build anew.