The Long Center is a performing arts venue located along Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin, Texas. The Long Center offers multiple performance and event spaces, including the Michael & Susan Dell Hall and the Debra and Kevin Rollins Studio Theatre. The Long Center’s founding resident companies are the Austin Symphony Orchestra

Austin Symphony Orchestra

The Austin Symphony Orchestra is the oldest performing group in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1911, and is celebrating its centenary year in 2011....

, Austin Lyric Opera

Austin Lyric Opera

Austin Lyric Opera, founded in 1986, is an internationally known opera company based in Austin, Texas.It also operates the Armstrong Community Music School....

 and Ballet Austin

Ballet Austin

Ballet Austin is one of the largest classical ballet academies in the country. Each year the Ballet Austin company performs ballets from a wide variety of choreographers, including Stephen Mills....

.

History and Facilities

The City of Austin leased the Lester E. Palmer Auditorium to the nonprofit group, Arts Center Stage, for renovation to create a performing arts venue in 1998. With a lead gift of $20 million from Joe R. And Teresa Lozano Long in April 1999, the project was renamed the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Center for the Performing Arts.

An original plan developed by Chicago architects, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill was commissioned November 1999, and by August 2001, the Long Center had raised over $61 million of the $110 goal. The project was designed to have four theatres, from a 232-seat studio theatre, to a grand theatre seating over 2,000 guests.

With the slowing economy in 2002-2003, the Long Center Board of Trustees, major donors, community arts leaders, and staff began researching alternative methods to improve project costs. A new project would be proposed and unanimously approved on October 2003, involving construction of the Long Center in phases. Phase I of the building project included the Michael & Susan Dell Hall (2,300 seats) and the Debra & Kevin Rollins Studio Theatre (240 seats). Phase II would include the Topfer Theatre and Recital & Education Building.

After 10 years of construction, the grand opening of the Long Center took place on March 28, 2008. Funding for the $77 million first-phase was provided for exclusively by private donations from more than 4,600 supporters.

Recycling the Palmer Auditorium

In order to refine the costs of building the Long Center, 95% of material from the deconstructed Palmer Auditorium was recycled and reused to build Phase I of the Long Center. One of the architectural stand-outs of the Long Center is its circular “ring-beam” around the city terrace, which was originally an anchoring structure for the Palmer Auditorium. The aluminum panels used to construct the Palmer Auditorium roof were reused for the exterior finish and wall decorations of the Dell Hall. In addition, five tons of steel from the Palmer Auditorium were melted and reused in the construction of the Long Center.

Stages and Venues

• Michael and Susan Dell Hall – A 2,400 seat grand concert hall with parterre, mezzanine, and balcony levels that wrap around the interior walls to form boxes at each level.
• Debra and Kevin Rollins Studio Theatre – An adaptable black box theatre that seats 80-229, offering configurations from theatre-in-the-round, to thrust stage, to cabaret seating.
• City Terrace and Hartman Concert Park – A terrace located just outside the Dell Hall looking onto Lady Bird Lake and Auditorium Shores. The City Terrace provides a panoramic view of downtown Austin while encircled by the “ring beam” from the old Palmer Auditorium. At the middle of the “ring beam” is a “compression ring” from the old Palmer Auditorium, which has been transformed into a bottom-lit, circular stage.
• Kodosky Donor Lounge –An enclosed lounge on the East and North side of the mezzanine level of the Long Center with floor-to-ceiling windows.
• West Donor Lounge/Terrace – A covered, open-air lounge on the West side of the mezzanine level.
• AT&T Education Rooms – Two education rooms for small receptions, meetings, or classroom space.

Founding Resident Companies

The Long Center has three founding resident companies:

• Austin Lyric Opera
  Austin Lyric Opera
  Austin Lyric Opera, founded in 1986, is an internationally known opera company based in Austin, Texas.It also operates the Armstrong Community Music School....
  
  
• Austin Symphony Orchestra
  Austin Symphony Orchestra
  The Austin Symphony Orchestra is the oldest performing group in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1911, and is celebrating its centenary year in 2011....
  
  
• Ballet Austin
  Ballet Austin
  Ballet Austin is one of the largest classical ballet academies in the country. Each year the Ballet Austin company performs ballets from a wide variety of choreographers, including Stephen Mills....
  
  

Architects, Consultants, and Design

Architects and designers of the Long Center include:

• Zeidler Partnership Architects
• Fischer Dachs Associates
• Jaffe Holden Acoustics, Inc.
• Nelson Partners