The story behind the building of Benaroya Hall

he building of Benaroya Hall, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this week, was inextricable from the survival of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

Trapped in the old Opera House at the Seattle Center, where it had been performing since 1962, the company was limited to 12 weeks of concert performances and could not grow artistically or financially. The Opera House's acoustics favored the human voice, making for a "dry" sound with little or no reverberation for musicians to hear themselves. It was impossible to play softly.

"When I first came to Seattle in 1983, a major problem then was an inability to rehearse in the Opera House," says Seattle Symphony conductor Gerard Schwarz. "We also did not have enough programs. It was unsatisfying in every way. We began talking about expanding our season and getting our own space."

The company was in terrible financial shape by the early 1990s, and efforts to fund a new facility were stymied in 1991 with the failure of a King County/Seattle Center levy. It might not have seemed a propitious time to think about building a new performance hall costing many tens of millions of dollars. Yet that's exactly what Schwarz and the SSO board did.

Philanthropist Becky Benaroya remembers that it started with a lunch shared by her husband Jack and Schwarz.

"I was as surprised as everyone else at Jack's decision [to provide seed money]," she says. "Jack knew public financing of a hall would never pass on a levy ballot. He had lunch with Gerry [Schwarz], and Gerry said it would take $15 million to get started. Jack, being a businessman, looked at a hall as a business venture: The orchestra needed a new home, and that would be good for the city. I found out about it after their meeting. In our generation, the man did the business — of course that's changed now."

On top of the $15 million the Benaroyas donated, the symphony's board of directors raised over $100 million toward construction costs through large and small, public and private donations.

The Kreielsheimer Foundation had property across the street from the Opera House. But Norm Rice, Seattle's mayor at the time, wanted to bring life to the downtown core, which suffered from a lack of foot traffic, especially after 5 p.m. The idea of building a world-class hall across the street from the Seattle Art Museum caught fire.

Benaroya Hall opened in September 1998, and so far has stood the test of time.

"While there are halls with bigger backstages and lobbies," Schwarz says, "our facility is perfect. 2,500 seats are ideal. The lobby and backstage are perfectly balanced with the theater area. Acoustics are among the finest in the world."

Tom Keogh: tomwkeogh@seattletimes.com