Foellinger Auditorium
| Foellinger Auditorium | |
|---|---|
(2013)
|
|
| General information | |
| Type | auditorium |
| Location | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Construction started | 1907 |
| Completed | 1907 |
| Renovated | 1915, 1937, 1951, 1970, 1983-85 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Clarence H. Blackall |
| Other information | |
| Seating capacity | 1565 |
Coordinates: 40°06′21″N 88°13′38″W / 40.105945°N 88.227201°W
The Foellinger Auditorium, located at 709 S. Mathews Avenue in Urbana, Illinois on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is a concert hall and the university's largest lecture hall. It is the southernmost building on the main quad. Its size and its dome make it one of the university’s most recognizable buildings. The building was completed in 1907 and was designed by Clarence H. Blackall, a noted theatre designer, in the Beaux-Arts style. The building is essentially a circle with a 120-foot diameter covering 17,000 square feet, with a large vestibule on the north side, and 396 lights in its copper dome.
Originally dedicated to the composer Edward MacDowell, the building was rededicated on April 26, 1985 in honor of Helene Foellinger, whose gift to the university enabled the facility to undergo a major renovation.
The idea for an Auditorium began in 1905 with the university's president, Edmund Janes James, who wanted to build a "noble monument" dedicated to the art of music. He wrote: "I am interested in having this the greatest hall of the kind in the Mississippi Valley". The university's trustees chose noted theatre designer and UI alumnus (Class of 1877) Clarence H. Blackall – who was responsible for the Wilbur and Colonial Theatres in Boston, among many others – and a site was chosen for the new building. Blackall later said about the location:
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