Schwab Auditorium | State College

Schwab Auditorium — Comprehensive Overview

1. Origin & Patronage

Gift of Bethlehem Steel magnate Charles M. Schwab, an 1886 Penn State graduate.

Constructed 1902–1903 for $150,000 to provide the college with a grand assembly and performance hall.

Dedicated February 22 1903 with Theodore Roosevelt’s Secretary of War Elihu Root delivering the inaugural address.

2. Architecture

Architects: Carrère & Hastings of New York (designers of the New York Public Library).

Style: Beaux-Arts filtered through American Renaissance classicism—symmetrical façade, limestone base, red-brick walls, terra-cotta ornament, and a copper-clad hipped roof.

Chief exterior features:
• Central Palladian window framed by Ionic pilasters.
• Arched limestone portico with paired columns and a carved cartouche bearing Schwab’s crest.
• Flanking pavilions with Diocletian windows admitting attic light to the balcony lobby.

3. Auditorium Layout & Capacity

Horseshoe plan modeled on European opera houses.

Original seating 900; post-1995 renovation seats 604 (424 orchestra, 180 balcony) to meet modern safety codes and sight-line standards.

Stage proscenium 36 ft w × 20 ft h; stage depth 33 ft; orchestra pit accommodates 35 musicians.

Full fly loft with 45 linesets, hemp original, now counterweight system rated 1,000 lb per pipe.

Rigging gridiron 60 ft above deck; expanded wing space via 1923 addition on stage left.

4. Acoustics & Technical Systems

Plaster barrel vault ceiling and walnut wall paneling provide warm, balanced reverberation (RT60 ≈ 1.6 s unoccupied).

1995 overhaul introduced variable acoustic banners, new HVAC duct silencers, and a sprung maple stage floor.

2014 upgrades: ETC Ion lighting console, LED fixtures, and Meyer Sound M’elodie line-array PA with Constellation acoustic enhancement for spoken-word clarity.

5. Interior Decoration

Main lobby clad in Tennessee marble, with bronze bust of Schwab by sculptor Allen G. Newman (1910).

Grand staircases rise to a mezzanine ringed by portraits of early Penn State benefactors.

Auditorium walls feature gilt stenciling of Greek key and anthemion motifs; dome mural (restored 2001) depicts the muses of art and science encircling the Penn State seal.

6. Programming & Use

Hosts School of Music recitals, Centre Stage theatre productions, and the Classical Music Project’s guest artists.

Frequent venue for Distinguished Speaker Series—past lecturers include Maya Angelou, Bill Nye, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Community events: State College Choral Society concerts, Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts performances, and local high-school graduations.

Serves as the university’s primary convocation hall when Eisenhower Auditorium is booked or under maintenance.

7. Preservation Milestones

1977: Placed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing structure to Penn State’s Farmers’ High School Historic District.

1995–1997: $4.3 million renovation addressed structural steel corrosion, installed ADA lifts, and restored original lighting sconces from archived blueprints.

Ongoing stewardship plan schedules façade repointing and copper-roof seam repairs every 20 years; next exterior cycle due 2035.

8. Sustainability Initiatives

LED house-lighting retrofit (2019) cut auditorium lighting load 60 %.

Building Management System optimizes HVAC pre-cool and setback during dark days, reducing annual energy use intensity to 38 kBtu/ft².

Recycling stations and zero-waste front-of-house policy align with Penn State’s sustainability goals.

9. Accessibility & Visitor Information

Street-level entrances with automatic doors on both the west (Pattee Mall) and east (Fraser Street) sides.

Eight wheelchair spaces with companion seats in orchestra section; infrared assistive-listening headsets available at coat-check.

Public tours offered by Lion Ambassadors on select Fridays; reservations recommended through the Penn State Alumni Association.

Parking: Nearby Fraser Street and Nittany Parking Decks; CATA campus loop and downtown routes stop within one block.

Box office operates Tuesday–Friday noon–4 p.m. and two hours before performances; online ticketing through arts.psu.edu.

10. Legacy
For more than a century Schwab Auditorium has blended architectural elegance with intimate acoustics, serving as a cultural nexus for Penn State and the wider Centre County community—fulfilling Charles Schwab’s vision that “art and learning should stand together.”