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This page last updated on 06/16/2019
06/12/2019 Visit Notes: On June 12th Jim Herring and I attended a tour of the Smith Center. This tour lasted nearly 1.5 hours and included a tour throughout the Smith Center including the Reynolds Concert Hall, the Box Seats, the elegant Founder’s Room and the Mezzanine Lounge where guests can gather for drinks and small bites before the show and at intermission, and the Myron's Cabaret Jazz Hall. Our volunteer guide was very well versed and articulate about the interior construction features and the artworks displayed on the walls. This was Jim's first visit here and was very impressed. Below is a sampling of some of the information he shared during the tour.
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| (Fig. 01) Click to enlarge |
Facts about the Smith Center: The Smith Center is funded by a public-private partnership. The city of Las Vegas provided land, infrastructure, environmental clean-up, and parking to the project and the city of Las Vegas, Clark County and State Legislature collaborated on a car rental fee that resulted in a bond of $105 million – a combined City commitment total of $170 million. In 2005, The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation granted the project a landmark gift of $50 million in honor of their chairman, Fred W. Smith, and his wife, Mary (Fig. 01). This incredible donation led our private funding campaign. Since then, the Reynolds Foundation has continued their generosity, pledging an additional $100 million grant to help complete the campus. This gift is the largest philanthropic donation in state history, and combined with their initial contribution, makes it the second largest donation to the performing arts in the United States.
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| (Fig. 02) Click to enlarge |
The Smith Center for the Performing Arts is a
61-acre Symphony Park. A
five-acre plot contains the performing arts center that consists of three theaters
in two buildings. The outdoor park plaza serves as an additional outdoor concert venue if needed. It features an artwork by Tim Bavington, representing Aaron Copland’s "Fanfare for the Common Man" (Fig. 02).
The groundbreaking for the $470 million project was May 26, 2009, and was completed on March 10th of 2012. It took more than 2,600 workers, 1.5 million man-hours and 32 months to build. The buildings 4,000 tons of structural steel and 2,458 tons of Indiana limestone have resulted in some of the finest finished detail I have ever seen in a public building.
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| (Fig. 03) Click to enlarge |
The Neo Art Deco design style was chosen by David M. Schwarz to echo the design elements of the Hoover Dam, located just 30 miles to the southeast (Fig. 04). Inside the main lobby there is a spectacular figurative bronze sculpture titled "Genius In Flight" that got its inspiration from the well-loved Winged Figures of Republic sculptures found at the dam (Fig. 05). With unbelievable attention to detail, every aspect inside the Music Hall, from the "up and down" lights of the elevators to the trash cans represents the art deco design of the Hoover Dam. The
2,050-seat Reynolds Hall is designed to keep the seats close to the stage, with seating on 5 levels. The audio design firm Akustiks ensures optimum sound quality in all the venues, installing high tech sound enhancing features like retractable drapery and auto closing doors to reflect or absorb sounds based on the performance type. The main hall is also double soundproofed against outside noises as well as any vibration from trains passing nearby.
At the corner on the outside, the Smith Center features a 17-story, 170 foot high carillon
bell tower. Its 47 cast brass bells ring over 4 octaves and weigh 29,500 lbs. It provides a focal point for the downtown skyline, as well as the Center (Fig. 03).
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| (Fig. 04) |
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| (Fig. 05) |
Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.
