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.”