The Rejuvenation of Oates Theater

In 2013, that new landmark was the Sharp Academic Commons. Next came the renovation of the Reeves Center (2014), then the construction of Centennial Hall (2015). In 2016, the athletic center, Grover Jones Field, and Jim Hickey Track received major facelifts, and a year ago McFall Hall, enlarged and significantly modernized, opened to much fanfare.

 

This time, the crown jewel is the redesigned, reconfigured, and re-energized Oates Theater, the centerpiece of the 25-year-old Hershey Center for the Arts. The restoration and rejuvenation began this past December. The space – same square footage as before but with a much different look – will open Aug. 20.

 

“We’ve been planning this project for 11 years, since the Centerbrook days,” said Scott Carson, Collegiate’s Director of Facilities Management and Construction. “Centerbrook was the original architect for the (Sharp) Academic Commons. Keith Evans (then Head of School) asked them to do a quick study of the theater to see if we could increase the seating capacity.”

 

One afternoon in late July, Carson and I met in the almost-complete venue to talk about the process and the enhancements that are striking and, truthfully, quite amazing.

 

“I’m a kid in a candy store,” he said with a smile. “I played with Tonka trucks when I was a kid. Look what I’m doing now. It’s fantastic. To be able to go through one of these (projects), do what you say you were going to do, and be able to deliver is just so gratifying. But a lot of hands went into this. I’m just the facilitator.”

 

The old Oates Theater accommodated 566. Many functions, including assemblies, drew standing-room-only crowds. Now, there’s room for 735, divided among the orchestra (582) and balcony (now 117, ultimately 153).

 

“The big driver,” Carson explained, “was to increase capacity so we could host more events internally and as part of our outreach. We do not-for-profit work. We open it up for rentals. We want to maintain our footing as the premier mid-tier venue in the area. Over time, we’ve had probably the best theater management crew. Our productions are top-notch, but our capacity hasn’t kept up with demand.”

 

The new seats are arranged in a curved alignment, which improves sight lines.

 

“Our former floor slab was basically a ramp back to front with all seats oriented parallel to the stage,” Carson said. “That meant if you were seated far left or far right, you had to crane your neck to get a decent view. There was never enough leg room. In the back tier, the aisle spacing was awfully tight, very uncomfortable and steep sloped. We knocked out the flanking seat banks which were really space-killers. Adding the curve – the scallop – to the bowl is awesome.”

 

Other enhancements involve acoustics and lighting. The grayish-colored masonry walls have been replaced with drywall painted an off white. Maple veneer baffling on the second level is custom-designed to reflect sound toward the audience. A new speaker system will enable sounds to resonate uniformly throughout the auditorium.

 

“Sound Stage (Inc. from Roanoke) advised us,” Carson said. “There used to be two banks of speakers that hung from below the catwalk close to the proscenium. We’ve rearranged them so we have a center array and two flanking left and right arrays that better direct sound to the audience level. The sound is very important to maintain our status as a premier venue.”

 

The 25-year-old system of house and stage lights has also undergone a complete overhaul.

 

“We’ve gone from incandescent to all LED,” Carson said. “The color range is superb and covers a full spectrum. The backdrop lighting is getting changed. All the wiring. All the connections. There’s a brand new command center. We’ve totally redesigned the house and stage lighting components.”

 

All structures eventually show wear-and-tear. Equipment becomes obsolete.

 

“We do our best to future-proof these buildings,” Carson said. “In general, the lifespan of a building is about 30 years. For a theater and its technology it’s a lot less. I’d love to get another 25 years out of this space. The physical components – the seating, the deck – will last that long. I can almost guarantee that we’ll go through another wave of lighting and sound technology within five to 10 years. It’s part of the renewal process.”

 

With the construction trailers and heavy equipment gone, there’s no hint – looking from the outside, of course – that anything is different.

 

“At our last owner-architect-contractor meeting,” Carson said, “we were talking about what the lobby (of the Hershey Center) looked like four months ago. Where the counter is, there was a big hole where we got a 60-foot, three-foot-deep piece of steel through the lobby, into here (the auditorium), turned it, lifted it, and bolted it into the existing columns (to support the balcony). And we’d dug down 30 feet with screw piles underneath the two posts for added rigidity to support the structure.”

 

As workmen applied the finishing touches, Carson could only smile.

 

“When people come in here,” he said, “that will be the real stunner. They’ll walk through these doors and say, ‘Whoa!’”

  -- Weldon Bradshaw