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Performers and audiences hail the acoustics and accouterments of St. Petersburg Junior College's newest facility. Special events celebrating it are giving the public a chance to be introduced.
By JOHN FLEMING
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 22, 2001
Architect Charles Canerday had never designed a recital hall before, but he knew the most important thing that officials with St. Petersburg Junior College had to keep in mind.
"The reason it is successful is that they stuck to their guns and said this is going to be a music hall, and not a meeting hall or a theater or some kind of multipurpose facility," Canerday said of the Music Center, the new facility on SPJC's St. Petersburg/Gibbs Campus that he designed.
That's what makes the Music Center, which is being dedicated with a series of performances this week, a significant addition to the Tampa Bay area. Virtually every other venue is used not only for music but also for dance and theater.
The $2.3-million center, which was completed in September, entailed demolishing part of Lynch Auditorium, one of the college's two original structures built in 1941. Basically, Canerday's design turned the auditorium around, orienting the hall toward the north and nearby Eagle Lake.
The acoustical consultant was Gary Siebein from the University of Florida. He and Canerday came up with a plan that includes four white acoustical clouds -- the largest weighs about 4,000 pounds -- suspended on wire over the oak stage and the audience seating area.
The hall has a sleekly modern look, with curved gray-blue walls and a deconstructionist touch in the exposed metal ceiling girders and ventilation ducts. The open space above the clouds enhances the acoustical properties of the hall, giving sound more space in which to bloom.
"The reverb time in here is almost three seconds, which is very good," said Canerday, referring to the time it takes sound to travel to the farthest point in the hall and back to the source.
The hall can be "tuned" by adjusting curtains on each side wall. Generally, the curtains are opened to leave the walls exposed for small ensembles, and closed for large groups that produce a lot of sound. For vocal music, the hall's resonance is dampened by closing the curtains.
One downside to the Music Center is its size. With only 300 seats, the center has not been able to accommodate the turnout for some performances. The limited seating makes it unlikely the college will be able to present recitals by artists whose fees require substantial paid attendance. Original plans called for more seating, but financial constraints changed that.
"We were battling budget all the way," Canerday said.
Canerday, 59, got his training at the University of Arkansas. In the 1960s, he worked for Coca-Cola in Atlanta, designing bottling plants for the soft-drink giant.
His three-architect firm in St. Petersburg has done a lot of work on the Gibbs Campus. It also designed the library for Stetson University's College of Law, two public libraries in St. Petersburg and Templeton Hall at Eckerd College. Current projects include the new Bay Point elementary and middle schools in St. Petersburg.
The Music Center opened last fall, and it has been the site of a host of performances by school groups as well as some outside ensembles. The acoustics have been widely praised.
"I can't imagine a better acoustic for its size," said Jonathan Steele, program director for humanities and fine arts on the Gibbs Campus. "It's been outstanding for everything we've had in it, but I think the hall is at its best for recitals -- piano and clarinet, piano and flute -- and small chamber groups. You can hear every note, every breath."
The hall has also been used for events such as a St. Petersburg mayoral candidates forum on Monday.
Performers appreciate acoustics that allow them to play softly. They also appreciate a hall that has not one but two Steinway concert grand pianos, which the school purchased last summer.
"We loved it," said Eugene Bashanov, violinist in the Russian Ensemble, which has played three concerts in the center. "The acoustics make it very easy to play in. You don't have to fight the hall."
The finishing touch to the Music Center is due to arrive in the fall, when a Heissler tracker organ will be installed against the back wall of the stage. With 31 ranks, 24 stops and three manuals, it will be sizable instrument, and its oak case will add to the beauty of the hall.
The German-built instrument is a pet project of SPJC keyboard instructor and organist Robert Setzer, who made a personal donation of at least $30,000 toward the $275,000 cost.
"The organ is going to be so dynamite," Canerday said.
Concerts and events to celebrate the new Music Center of St. Petersburg Junior College, 6605 Fifth Ave. N, include a Drama Showcase, 1 p.m. today; Student Honors Recital, 8 p.m. Friday; pianist Awadagin Pratt in a master class, 11 a.m. Saturday; grand opening concert, 3 p.m. Sunday. Free admission. (727) 341-4360.