2016-2017 Season
Some Trivia and History
n EJ Thomas Hall was designed in part by Dr. Vern O. Knudsen, Los Angeles, world renowned physicist, UCLA chancellor emeritus and acoustical expert, who also checked the acoustics of the building and “tuned” it after it was completed. Dr. Knudsen considered the entire Hall a musical instrument. He designed the unique system of sound dispersal with a range of various acoustical devices built into the structure to handle the differing requirements of a concert hall, opera house or Broadway show, and intimate theater. The hall is programmed to change at the push of a button on a console backstage. n The sound-reflecting ceiling is the most unique and troublesome feature of the building, with EJ Thomas Hall being one of the few halls in the world whose movable ceiling still functions. The 44 ton ceiling is composed of 3,800 interlocking steel panels, suspended in curved sections from a network of counterweighted cables attached to the Louis A. Witzman Counterweights in Goodrich Lobby with a combined weight of 47 tons. When the weights are all the way down, the ceiling is all the way up.
n EJ Thomas Hall occupies three acres on The University of Akron campus and was built at a cost of $13.9 million. Ground breaking was July 30, 1969. The cornerstone was laid on July 21, 1971, with the official grand opening October 9 and 10, 1973. “Initium,” by Carlos Chavez, was commissioned by the Akron Symphony Orchestra for the opening of the
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n When the Hall was finished, Knudsen and theater consultant Dr. George Izenour spent four days making extensive tests of its acoustical properties and ceiling apparatus. Tests were made with live and taped sounds, including a .22 caliber pistol being fired from the stage and the reverberation times measured throughout the Hall. The variance was only 3.5 to 4 decibels, a discrepancy not even a trained ear could detect.
THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON
n Before EJ Thomas Hall was built, the only places in Akron to house performances by touring companies were the Akron Civic Theatre and the Akron Armory, which was designed to drill troops.
EJ THOMAS HALL
Above: EJ’s ghost light. Left: Counterweighted cables.
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