SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento’s historic Memorial Auditorium is reopening this week after a $16.2 million renovation project that lasted nearly a year.
Gone are uncomfortable seats, said project manager Sabrina Tefft. The chairs there now are brand new or refurbished.
“We…purchased these seats on the floor,” Tefft said, gesturing to the swath of seats in the center of the auditorium. “These should be equivalent to what you would typically find in a performing arts theater.”
Historical wood seats in back of the auditorium were restored as well.
“These seats are reflective of the character of this building,” Tefft said. “During the renovations, we really tried to protect the integrity of the building when we were doing our upgrades.”
Memorial Auditorium opened in 1927. It can seat 3,200 people for performing arts events, a city spokesperson said. It seats 3,500 people for graduations, the first of which is set for this weekend in the renovated space.
Improvements also include new lighting and a whole new sound system.
“I think it looks beautiful. I hope that the public agrees,” Tefft said. “I hope that the comfort is here. I hope that acoustically, they notice the difference when they come in.”
All of these upgrades came in right on its $16.2 million budget, Tefft said. It’s part of a larger $300 million effort called the C3 Project to renovate the Sacramento Convention Center, Memorial Auditorium, and Community Center Theater. The city is paying for it with bonds that will be repaid with taxes collected from local hotels and motels.
"In addition, local hotels have agreed to pay for the construction of the Convention Centers’ new ballroom, which will cost approximately $50 million," city officials said.
The Convention Center and Community Center Theater are both closing for a year starting this summer. They're set to reopen in the fall of 2020.
“Events that typically happen over at the Community Center Theater – so the Broadway Sacramento, the ballet, the philharmonic – those events will actually move over to this building,” Tefft said. “For a whole year, they’ll be performing at the Memorial Auditorium while that’s being renovated.”
More information on the city’s C3 Project is HERE.
The city is offering free public tours of the renovated Memorial Auditorium on – fittingly – Memorial Day: Monday, May 27, from 10 a.m. to noon.
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