Avery Fisher Hall is set for a major renovation in 2017, according to The New York Times.
The Lincoln Center along with the New York Philharmonic,is set to press on with construction of the building which means the ensemble will have to relocate for two seasons creating a challenge for the orchestra.
A previous plan was in place to redesign the building, which remained untouched while the rest of the Lincoln Center was remodeled in the past decade to the tune of $1.2 billion. The changes to the structure will look to improve the hall's acoustics and replace amenities and reconfigure the auditorium according to The Times. The structure was originally designed by Max Abramovitz and will remain intact.
"It's not going to be a fix-up," said Katherine G. Farley, Lincoln Center's Chairwoman. "If you're going to do this you shouldn't do a better version of what's already built."
British architect Norman Foster won a competition to redesign the building and it was approved in 2005 but the price tag of $300 million put off the project, along with, the orchestra's fear that it might lose audiences and revenue while it was displaced.
The New York Phil is eager to get things going in order to move their program ahead and protect finances that have seen season-long subscriptions transformed into single ticket sales.
"If you're not thinking about the way in which our art form and music and audiences are evolving, you're not serving the art form long term," said Matthew VanBesien, who this year became the orchestra's executive director. "You really want to build this next great hall in a new way, to do the kinds of things you maybe are doing but want to do in a more compelling way or maybe can't even imagine yet."
Currently the orchestra is looking at multiple venues so that the organization can continue playing when renovations get under way.
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