On July 14, Los Angeles County will conduct a dedication and open house for its 1,200-seat John Anson Ford Theater, the 97-year-old outdoor performance center nestled in the Hollywood Hills that has received a $72.2 million facelift, which took more than four years to complete.
Two of the three construction phases for this project were completed a year ago, including the restoration of the Ford Amphitheater stage with a Brazilian walnut Ipe hardwood deck. The theater is adjacent to a 32-acre park, whose hillside sloping was stabilized with retaining walls and other erosion-control measures.
Artist support spaces have been expanded, and new theatrical and AV infrastructure was installed, including the creation of a sound wall that encompasses a projection booth and control room, catwalks, and an upgraded lighting platform. A sound barrier will help muffle vehicular noise coming from the nearby Highway 101.
The outdoor theater is located in the hills of Cahuenga Pass, surrounded by a 32-acre park whose landscaping was stabilized and upgraded as part of the renovation. Image: Tom Bonner
In addition, a new three-story structure with a full-service loading dock below and offices above was constructed. An 87-seat black box theater, [Inside] the Ford, was repurposed as a 580-sf self-serve food marketplace and community room. All told the renovation and restoration added 3,500 sf of “found space” from bedrock under the stage, and a 2,315-sq picnic terrace that can seat up to 110. (Crumble Catering is the marketplace partner.)
The John Anson Ford Amphitheater has always been a less-conspicuous, littler cousin to the more-famous, 17,500-seat Hollywood Bowl.
Among the refurbishings of John Anson Ford Amphitheater is the installation of a new Ipe hardware deck for the stage. Image: Tom Bonner
Opened in 1920, the amphitheater was designed, somewhat bizarrely, to resemble the gates of ancient Jerusalem. Christine Wetherill Stevenson, heiress to the Pittsburgh Paint fortune and a playwright, was instrumental in securing the land and building for the original theater, which staged her drama “The Pilgrimage Play.”
In 1976, the theater was renamed in honor of John Anson Ford, and L.A. County supervisor who founded the L.A. County Arts Commission. (The county owns the theater.)
The Building Team for the renovation and restoration included Levin & Associates Architects (design architect), Pankow Builders (construction services), Cumming Construction Management (project manager), Structural Focus (SE), Lucci & Associates (EE), The Sullivan Partnership (M/P engineer), Mollenhauer Group (CE, Survey), McKay Conant Hoover (acoustical and AV engineer), Wiss Janney Elstner Associates (material conservation), Mia Lehrer + Associates (landscape architect), Horton Lees Brogden (lighting design), Leighton (geotechnical), Sussman Prejza & Company (signage), and Theatre Projects (theatrical).
Related Stories
| Mar 29, 2012
Construction completed on Las Vegas’ newest performing arts center
The Smith Center will be the first major multi-purpose performance center in the U.S. to earn Silver LEED certification.
| Dec 5, 2011
Summit Design+Build begins renovation of Chicago’s Esquire Theatre
The 33,000 square foot building will undergo an extensive structural remodel and core & shell build-out changing the building’s use from a movie theater to a high-end retail center.
| Oct 11, 2011
Pink light bulbs donated to Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
For every Bulbrite Pink Light Bulb that is purchased through the Cancer Center Thrift Shop, 100% of the proceeds will be donated to help support breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment.
| Sep 9, 2011
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City opens this month
Theatre Projects played the lead role in theatre design and planning as well as in engineering the customized theatre equipment. BNIM in Kansas City served as the executive architect.
| May 18, 2011
Carnegie Hall vaults into the 21st century with a $200 million renovation
Historic Carnegie Hall in New York City is in the midst of a major $200 million renovation that will bring the building up to contemporary standards, increase educational and backstage space, and target LEED Silver.
| Apr 12, 2011
Long-awaited San Francisco center is music to jazz organization’s ears
After 28 years, SFJAZZ is getting its first permanent home. The San Francisco-based nonprofit, which is dedicated to advancing the art of jazz through concerts and educational programs, contracted local design firm Mark Cavagnero Associates and general contractor Hathaway Dinwiddie to create a modern performance center in the city’s Hayes Valley neighborhood
| Feb 11, 2011
Sustainable features on the bill for dual-building performing arts center at Soka University of America
The $73 million Soka University of America’s new performing arts center and academic complex recently opened on the school’s Aliso Viejo, Calif., campus. McCarthy Building Companies and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects collaborated on the two-building project. One is a three-story, 47,836-sf facility with a grand reception lobby, a 1,200-seat auditorium, and supports spaces. The other is a four-story, 48,974-sf facility with 11 classrooms, 29 faculty offices, a 150-seat black box theater, rehearsal/dance studio, and support spaces. The project, which has a green roof, solar panels, operable windows, and sun-shading devices, is going for LEED Silver.
| Feb 11, 2011
Kentucky’s first green adaptive reuse project earns Platinum
(FER) studio, Inglewood, Calif., converted a 115-year-old former dry goods store in Louisville, Ky., into a 10,175-sf mixed-use commercial building earned LEED Platinum and holds the distinction of being the state’s first adaptive reuse project to earn any LEED rating. The facility, located in the East Market District, houses a gallery, event space, offices, conference space, and a restaurant. Sustainable elements that helped the building reach its top LEED rating include xeriscaping, a green roof, rainwater collection and reuse, 12 geothermal wells, 81 solar panels, a 1,100-gallon ice storage system (off-grid energy efficiency is 68%) and the reuse and recycling of construction materials. Local firm Peters Construction served as GC.
| Jan 21, 2011
Music festival’s new home showcases scenic setting
Epstein Joslin Architects, Cambridge, Mass., designed the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, Mass., to showcase the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, as well at the site’s ocean views.
