A Report on the Wortham Theater Center

8 Cite Winter 1984 A Cite Editorial A Report The most visible aspect of the proposed On The Wortham Theater Center is its architecture which, however commendable the intentions of its advocates, is disap- pointing. Indeed, because of the process which led to it, it is difficult to argue that the Wortham Theater Center in its present form is anything but flawed in contrast to the aspirations of the artistic companies it may someday house. Wortham However, of even more fundamental concern than the proposed building's architectural flaws are the root causes of these shortcomings. These are four: • The lack of a requisite breadth of perspective on the part of the patrons of the project. Theater • The inadequate participation of local government officials nominally repre- senting the community at large. • The absence of a formal process for timely public review and criticism of the project. Ce nter • The inability of the project's architect to resolve successfully the competing issues of design, civic responsibility, By Stephen Fox and client demands. When visitors come to Houston from other parts of It is estimated that the 45(UHH>-square-foot center Whatever the final outcome of the the United States or abroad, it is not unusual to hear will cost $75 million, This figure includes the cost of them exclaim over the city's vitality. Mirror-glass constructing the building, finishing and outfitting it. Wortham Theater Center project, now is office buildings, freeways, shopping malls: all ap- and paying professional consultants' fees. Once the time to alter existing philosophies so pear to exude an enthusiasm and optimism that, as completed, the Wortham Theater Center will be one is apt to he told, are a tiling of the past else- turned over to the City of I Iouston. which will own that the root causes of its problems will where. Houston presents itselt as a visible testament and manage it. not afflict other Houston projects. The to this cultural disposition. 1 lere. it still seems "natural" to think that achievement is the reward The notion of organizing a charitable foundation to good intentions and generosity of of vision, determination, effort, and. of course, lan, construct, equip, and pay for a puhliely owned community-spirited private benefactors luck. And that it is available to anyone who pursues it diligently. C uilding was derived from Houston Endowment's continue to be vital to Houston; however, example of providing the city with Jones Hall, a 3000-seal performance center that opened in 1966 these attributes alone can no longer be One conspicuous civic endeavor threatens to con- Houston Endowment was not an ad-hoc organiza- tradict this cultural presumption. Since ll>77 a group considered sufficient. The maturity and tion, as is the Lyric Theater Foundation, but it of public-spirited citizens, organized as the Lyric functioned independent of the municipal govern- resultant complexity of this city at its Theater Foundation, has been trying to build an op- ment in carrying out the project for a municipal con- era and ballet theater to accommodate the Houston current stage of development demand ceit hall. Similar arrangements, with groups of Grand Opera and the Houston Ballet. But in this ef- individuals acting together to provide sites for oi much more. fort to complement the Jesse H. Jones I kill for the build public structures ihat would be owned and op- Performing Arts and the Alley Theatre, uncompli- erated h\ governmental bodies, were responsible for cated optimism long ago turned to frustration and bringing into being the Astrodome, the Interconti- In order for Houston's built environ- even the most eftervcscenl enthusiasts have become nental Airport, and the Summit. Houstonians like to weary. Respected voices in the art community have think that this is a typically Texan way of building ment—especially those components of been raised publicly to question the financing, pro- needed public accommodations, circumventing what it in the public domain—to be of the gramming, and design of the proposed opera and are assumed to be the inevitable compromises, de- ballet center. After four years of fund raising the lays, wastefulness, and expenses associated with quality we desire, there needs to be a foundation has \ei to secure its goal of $75 million. public works projects. The un-Texan complication is community-wide commitment to a higher that the Wortnam Theater Center has become sub- The precise cause of the foundation's inability ject to delays, compromises, and a measure of pub- order of planning accountability and to raise the money to build the Gus. S. Wortham lic criticism, much of it focused on its architecture. leadership in the private and, especially, Theater Center, as the project has been called since 1982, has never been established. The effects of the the public sectors. Such a commitment, recession certainly deflated expectations that fund The present design dates from 1980. It is the work and the deliberate and rational proc- raising would be no problem. A pledge of $15 mil- of Morris'Aubry Architects: Jean Rosenthal Associ- lion from the Wortham Foundation, $5 million ates, theater and lighting consultants; Jaffe Acous- esses it would generate, now are over- apiece from the Brown and Cullen foundations, and tics, acousticians; CBM Engineers, structural due. If they were in place today, the substantial pledges and gifts from other foundations, engineers: and Cook and Holle. consulting engi- corporations, and individuals brought the sum to neers. Since 1982 Gerald D. Hines Interests has Wortham Theater Center would be a about $48 million by 19 July 1983, when the Hous- been involved in the project as volunteer project much improved design and all Houstoni- ton City Council approved the proposed architec- coordinator, and the W. S. Bellows Construction tural design. This left the Lyric Theater Foundation Corporation has provided construction and pricing ans would be the beneficiaries. $17 million short of its goal for starting construction. consultation. Cite Winter 1984 •J f Wortham Theater Center, Morris*Aubry Architects, de- (1970-1976). Pennzoil, Jones Hall, and the Alley which was in danger of losing its competitive stand- tail of model showing accepted design of revised en- Theatre were all recipients of AIA design awards; in ing to cities with newer, larger, exhibition halls. An- trance pavilion. July 1983 (Morris*Aubry Architects) fact. Jones Hall and the Alley Theatre were two of other was that the lyric theater was viewed by some only Ihrec major performance halls in the entire council members as a politically sensitive, "elitist" country to have won these national architeciura! project, without broad, popular appeal. The foun- Tuning awards. dation decided lo deflect this objection by increasing The Lyric Theater Foundation was organized by the number of theaters in the center from one to Harris Masterson 111. Eugene F. Loveland, Isaac The site was not without disadvantages, though. two: a large (2,000 or more seats) opera and ballet Arnold, Jr.. Searcy Bracewell. and Jonathan Day, The western edge of block 61 contained ramps lead- theater, and a smaller hall that could be used by all supporters of the opera and the ballet, when it ing to and from the Civic Center Garage. The Texas community performance groups. became obvious that Jones Hall could no longer Avenue side of this block faced the truck docks of accommodate these two organizations and the the Albert Thomas Convention Center, a three- The proposal that Johnson/Burgee submitted in Houston Symphony Orchestra. Although built as a block-long concrete box that severed blocks 61 and March 1978 reflected this enlarged program. Their multipurpose performance center, Jones Hall 40 from contact with the rest of the Civic Center to schematic design indicated an KOO-seal theater on functioned besl as a concert hall. Therefore it the south. Formerly the site of the Farmers' Market block 61, with its stage house turned toward Texas, seemed reasonable to construct a new building de- (1927-1929) and the six-story Scanlan Warehouse and a 2,200-seat opera house on block 40, with its signed specifically as a professional residence for the (1910-191 l . D . H. Burnham and Company, archi- stage house backed up to Preston. Connecting the opera and ballet. In 1977 Irl Mowery, a Houstonian tects), these blocks had been cleared to permit a two theaters was the "grand foyer," an enormous who had been involved in the theater in a variety of connection to be made between Memorial Drive civic room, 130 feet long, 105 feel wide, and 75 feet ways, was hired as executive director of the founda- and the downtown street system, completed in 1960. high, that bridged Prairie Avenue to serve as the tion. A grant from the Cullen Foundation enabled Since Prairie Avenue functioned as the access ramp common lobby for both theaters. The grand foyer the Lyric Theater Foundation to hire Johnson/ to Memorial Drive, it could not be closed. More- was reached from an entrance pavilion accessible Burgee Architects to prepare schematic designs. over, the intersection of Bagby and Prairie, just west from two different levels: a street entrance on During 1977 Masterson, Mowery. and Philip John- of the two blocks, occurred on a bridge over the Smith, and an elevated plaza at the Smith-Texas son chose a site for the center, for which Johnson/ bayou channel, making any realignment of Prairie corner up which an external stair was routed diago- Burgee prepared at least two proposals. prohibitively expensive. On the west side of the nally. Circulation spaces were generous and back- bayou lay the Central Fire Station and an elevated stage spaces were ample. The grand foyer and an The site was an obvious one.

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