The Wharton Center is going to have a new look when the curtain goes up for 'Love Never Dies' next week.
We got a look at the improvements inside Wednesday.
The Steinway Grand Piano has been fully restored and refinished.
There are new drinking fountains, and new carpet in the Pasant Theater, and one big change the Wharton made at the request of its customers.
"We went based again on feedback from our audience and our patrons and we heard that loud and clear with the wider chairs" said Jarrod Bradford, Director of Operations and Administration.
'Love Never Dies' is the sequel to 'Phantom of the Opera', it opens on October 9th.
The rest of this year's schedule includes 'The Miller Plays', 'Fiddler on the Roof' and 'Anastasia'.
Some of the changes you will see in the Cobb Great Hall
- The entire project took 6 weeks to complete. We worked with Irwin Seating Company, a Grand Rapids based, family-owned, 4th-generation business that has been in operation for over 100 years. They are the world’s oldest fixed-theatre-seat manufacturer. Our seats are 100% Michigan-sourced. The fabric is from Steelcase.
- This was the first full seat replacement in the history of Wharton Center. The stanchions and anchors were original from 1982. The seat pans, seat-backs, and arm rests were refurbished in 1996.
- They began on July 31, 2018 and finished on Friday, September 14, 2018.
- It took one week to remove 2,401 chairs plus an additional 19 total platform spots.
- 90% were 19” chairs; 10% were 20” & 21”
- The old seating was recycled. We considered donation of seats, however, the time taken to remove the seats would have doubled. If we had more time we would have donated seats like we did with the Auditorium seating project in 2006.
- It took four weeks to strip and reseal the floor plus pour new concrete. As soon as the floor-grinding was complete cleaning began. We applied new epoxy to the floor. There was one week where floor work and install of new seats happened concurrently.
- It took two weeks to install 2,214 new chairs (plus 36 platform spots) lowering our seating capacity by 170 seats.
- 50% are 21”; 25% are 22”; 25% are mix of 20” & 23”
- The new seats have a smaller envelope and have a fully folding seat-pan. We gained about an inch in each row while Rows AA, BB, CC gained almost 2 inches in each row.
- The added platform spots allow for side by side companion seating. We also purchased 42 new, loose companion seats for platforms. We installed ADA swing-up arms to some aisle seats and low-voltage LED aisle lights.
- New carpet was installed on the lift under AA, BB, CC as well as on ramps to stage.
- They replaced main theatrical drapes & valance using Rose Brand Fabrics in New Jersey. They are the industry leader in theatrical drapes. The existing Red drapes were from 1996 and required annual fire-proofing. The new drapes are inherently Fire Resistant and weight about half the weight of the old drapes and valance
- They have 500 total named seat plates between Cobb Great Hall and Pasant Theatre. There are still many opportunities to support the expenses of this project as well as upcoming facility projects with a donation to Wharton Center Facilities Fund. Please reach out to Doug Miller at 517-884-3112 or Kristen Calabrese at 517-884-3140.
Some of the changes you will see in the Cobb Great Hall
- The entire project took 6 weeks to complete with 4 weeks of actual work. Scheduling of Great Hall events required several stops and starts to work in Pasant Theatre.
- They worked with Irwin Seating Company, a Grand Rapids based, family-owned, 4th-generation business that has been in operation for over 100 years. They are the world’s oldest fixed-theatre-seat manufacturer. Our seats are 100% Michigan-sourced.
- This was the first full seat replacement in the history of Wharton Center. The stanchions and anchors were original from 1982. The seat pans, seat-backs, and arm rests were refurbished in 1996.
- They began on May 15, 2018 and finished on June 22, 2018 with minor details still to be completed later in the summer.
- It took 4 days to remove 584 chairs.
- 90% were 19” chairs; 10% were 20” & 21”
- The old seating was recycled. We considered donation of seats, however, the time taken to remove the seats would have doubled. If we had more time we would have donated seats like we did with the Auditorium seating project in 2006.
- It took 6 days to install 584 new seats.
- 50% are 21” chairs; 40% are 20” chairs; 10% mix of 19”, 22” & 23” chairs
- They applied a new epoxy in the seating area and the “gutter.” The gutter is the black area between the stage and the seats.
- They installed new carpet on the aisles as well as new low-voltage LED aisle lights.
- The handrails were remounted and stabilized. Flimsy aluminum bases were cut off and replaced with steel plates.
- They also replaced main theatrical drapes & valance using Rose Brand Fabrics in New Jersey. They are the industry leader in theatrical drapes. The existing Red drapes were from 1996 and required annual fire-proofing. The new drapes are:
- Inherently Fire Resistant
- Never need fire-proofing
- About half the weight of the old drapes and valance
- They have 500 total named seat plates between Cobb Great Hall and Pasant Theatre. There are still many opportunities to support the expenses of this project as well as upcoming facility projects with a donation to Wharton Center Facilities Fund. Please reach out to Doug Miller at 517-884-3112 or Kristen Calabrese at 517-884-3140 to learn more about ways to support.
