Back in the boom years of the dot-com bubble, technology start-ups bloomed like weeds in a vacant lot. They marketed premises, and sometimes only even just their names, and got tons of funding for just the idea of being something. We all know what happened to 99% of those corporations.
Here in Portland, we’ve got the opposite problem: we’ve got genuine cultural assets that you can see, hear, touch, and feel. But there’s not bricks-and-mortar support from the community. With the exception of the new Gerding Theater at the old Armory (for Portland Center Stage), there has been no new, major, purpose-built cultural building proposed for the Portland area.
Here’s a snippet from an article about the Dallas area and its support for the orchestra and other cultural institutions that I found to be quite telling:
The Dallas Arts District is expanding with two long-awaited new facilities, both designed by international “starchitects.” The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts’ Winspear Opera House, by London’s Foster and Partners, and the Wyly Theatre, by Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus, are both due to open in fall 2009. A year later, a smaller City Performance Hall will round out a concentration of visual- and performing-arts facilities unmatched anywhere.
“There’s a demonstrated commitment to the arts and culture and quality of life,” Mr. Adams says of Dallas, “and it’s demonstrated in a physical sense in the Meyerson Symphony Center, where the DSO plays, being one of the finest concert halls in America. The new buildings next door are further evidence of that commitment. The idea of Dallas being a can-do city is not just PR.”
It’s time for Portland to step up and support a major, purpose-built, new home for the Oregon Symphony, with a recital hall and management offices all under the same roof. We can talk about how much of a great, visionary, progressive city we are, but until we have a showcase for our primary cultural assets, it’s all still just talk.
And, coincidentally, here’s an article from today’s Seattle Times, telling the story behind their spectacular Benaroya Hall, which began with an organization in dire financial straits, and with no readily perceivable sources of public financing.
6 replies on “whither bricks and mortar?”
Well said!
So who are Portland’s business visionaries and what would it take to convince them to invest in a new hall? And what, exactly, is the mayor elect’s position on arts in this city? Is he willing to go to the mat for the OSO?
Dallas is 3 times larger and many times richer than Portland (4th largest metro area in the coutry, Portland is 22nd). Sad fact is, there are probably only a handful of cities in the US that have the population critical mass and financial environment that might (just might) facilitate the building of a (starchitect designed or not) performing arts venue. Portland is not one of them (I do not like that fact anymore than you do, but we have to face the truth here…)
Nikos – I don’t disagree with your estimation of Portland as compared to Dallas, but I do think that not dreaming big is one of the most dangerous paths a symphony orchestra can take. Managers must be, given the nature of the business, relatively conservative in the steps that they take with regard to expansion or major capital campaigns, but a couple decades ago Gerard Schwartz dreamt big for his orchestra, and it paid dividends about a decade or so later. Long term vision is vitally important to all orchestras, whether in good financial straits or bad. Thanks for stopping by and commenting, it’s very much appreciated.
I strongly agree, the Oregon Symphony needs a Hall worthy of its outstanding (and ever evolving) playing! Although it is fun to try to find the “good zones” at the Schitz by moving around (I like the sound at the very top of the uppermost tier, but you look like tiny dots from up there) it would be great to have a concert hall that is pleasing to the ear as well as to the eye.
I am all for floating the idea of that and see where it goes, especially since the City is thinking of spending money on this “bridge to nowhere” between the Schintz and PCPA.
I agree – the sound in the topmost tier of the balcony is the best – but it is quite a distance, indeed! As for the bridge, I’m not sure why that’s a good idea from the city’s viewpoint, especially since they can close off the street between the two buildings at will…