EVERETT – The sounds of demolition and construction have rumbled across Colby Avenue in downtown Everett since March, but it is music to the ears of the Everett Symphony.
Michael OLeary / The Herald
Come the first of September, the orchestra will have a permanent home for the first time in its 70-year history, a spacious new administrative center that’s being carved out of a building that’s nearly as old as the orchestra.
When completed, the 6,600-square-foot building at 2710 Colby Ave. will include office space, a music library, a place for ticket sales, a gift shop selling CDs, a kitchen, a music library, a practice room and storage space.
The heart of the building is a rehearsal hall that soars to the timber-framed ceiling of the 1936 building.
Under the layers of building materials workers have uncovered the original construction, including 60-foot-long fir beams cut from the old-growth forests that dotted the landscape when the building was constructed.
The ceiling is being left open at the behest of conductor Paul-Elliot Cobbs, who sees acoustical benefits in the vast space, said Mary Brueggeman, executive director of the orchestra.
Here, the orchestra will prepare for the dozen-plus concerts it performs annually, and host smaller musical functions and social gatherings.
The rehearsal room will see double duty as an education room by day, giving the orchestra a home for educational concerts and classes, particularly for school-age children.
With the opening of the building, the Everett Symphony will have, for the first time, a public face and everything under one roof, Brueggeman said.
Over the years, the orchestra has worked in various buildings around town and even in the basement of a private home, she said.
Now, the musicians rehearse at Jackson High School in Mill Creek, the music library and other materials are housed in a storage facility in Everett, and administrative operations and ticket sales are in a warren of rooms at the Monte Cristo Hotel.
The Everett Symphony gives more than a dozen concerts a year, about twice the number as orchestras of similar size, Brueggeman said.
Classical concerts draw about a thousand people; the symphony’s popular jazz and pops concerts even more.
And thousands of school children are introduced to classical music in the orchestra’s Explore Music concerts. The orchestra performs in the Everett Civic Auditorium and other venues around town.
The Colby Avenue project is part of a two-phase development program totaling $3.1 million. The first phase, to acquire and renovate the Colby building, is being done at a cost of $1.7 million, with nearly all of that money already raised from corporate, foundation and private donations. Other elements of the campaign, for an additional $1.4 million, will include expansion of the orchestra’s education programs.
Fundraising efforts continue, Brueggeman said, and those who contribute will be honored on a donor’s wall in the main entrance of the new building.
The building on Colby, which began life as a grocery store and has seen many uses over the years, was empty when the orchestra search committee found it.
“This building fit perfectly,” said Brueggeman, who led a hard-hat tour of the renovation recently while workers were hanging drywall and framing in doors and windows.
The Art Deco style exterior of the building will be maintained but inside, it’s a whole new space. The project architect is Botesch, Nash &Hall and the contractor is Gaffney Construction, both of Everett.
The renovation work has gone smoothly, Brueggeman said. One surprise was the need for seismic upgrades; another was the discovery of a locked floor safe that was opened but turned up empty.
The safe will become a time capsule so future generations can look back to the day that the Everett Symphony found a permanent home.
Reporter Mike Murray: 425-339-3424 or murray@heraldnet.com.
Michael O’Leary / The Herald
Rick Johnson, a Gaffney Construction superintendent, inspects a fir plank that was used in the original construction of the building where the Everett Symphony will have new offices.
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