Hancher readies for its encore

IOWA CITY — While the Iowa River was flirting with its low-lying riverbanks Thursday afternoon, 200 workers were high and dry, continuing their quest to shape the new Hancher Auditorium inside and out.

'It changes every month,' said Michael Lordeman of Iowa City, lead superintendent on-site for Mortenson Construction, during an exclusive Gazette/KCRG-TV9 tour Thursday.

'It changes every day,' Hancher Executive Director Chuck Swanson added. 'It's like a flower.'

That flower is blooming on higher ground than its predecessor, which was built in 1972 and destroyed in June 2008 when the nearby river ravaged part of the University of Iowa campus and everything else in its path.

On June 29, 2013, a site ceremony celebrated the groundbreaking for the $176 million performance arts complex. Major funding for the new Hancher is coming from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. the university, insurance and donations.

Two years later, about 70 percent of the work is done, keeping the site on-track for its September 2016 grand opening.

Major summer milestones will push the 189,000-square-foot building toward the fall goal of installing 1,800 audience seats. Roofing, exterior doors, landscaping, hardscaping, paving, skylights, theatrical rigging, interior framing and permanent flooring are on the docket first, and in July a giant scaffolding network will come down in the auditorium.

Drive-bys and walk-bys are common at the construction site.

'I constantly hear from people, how intrigued they are with the building — excitement, true utter excitement,' Swanson said. His own elation is palpable.

'I love the site,' he said. 'I love driving in from the interstate — (it's) one of the first things you see. That shows what the university and our community values.'

Hancher seasons have continued in the interim across the Corridor and across the state. But soon, Broadway touring shows, major dance companies and orchestras like the Boston Pops, which played a 2011 Christmas concert at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, will return to Hancher in a venue that builds on the strengths of the past.

'So much thought has gone into planning this new Hancher,' Swanson said. 'The beauty is that we had 40-plus years of the original Hancher. ...

From that Hancher experience, we learned what we need in a new Hancher, and it doesn't get any better than that.'

Among the most visible indoor changes is the auditorium's curved seating design, which brings the audience closer to the artists.

Acoustics is a huge part of the equation, with Kirkegaard Associates of Chicago doing monthly inspections of the design's execution, Lordeman said. When the system is finished, the push of a button will change stage curtain configurations to accommodate Hancher's broad programming, from opera and theater to musical ensembles. The former Hancher didn't have variable acoustics.

'We can tune the hall to what the performance is,' Swanson said.

Hancher Cafe has exploded in size. It will offer greatly expanded indoor seating, and an outdoor terrace wraps around the building, providing sweeping vistas.

Besides being a lab for students to learn from pros, it gives the community a place to gather for everything from conversations to weddings.

'The cafe is going to be a great gathering place, and the lobby. I think people have missed that over the years. Every community needs a place like that,' Swanson said. 'And then, the views will be to die for.'

Bringing the outdoors inside fueled the design philosophy, orchestrated by internationally renowned architect Cesar Pelli of Pelli Clarke Pelli, based in New Haven, Conn. Soaring glass walls, brushed steel exterior panels that seem to shift colors as day turns to night; cypress wood embedded with tiny lights outdoors, continuing to ceilings indoors; and auditorium colors in a gradient blue palette on the ceiling and gleaming greens through the seating area all work in tandem with nature.

It's a project so stunning in scope that Lordeman moved his family from Olympia, Wash., to Iowa City for the duration of construction — and has no plans to leave. Especially since his daughter plans to attend the UI after studying at Kirkwood Community College.

'I'll only build a building like this once in my life.' he said.

l Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com