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By Danni Sabotatn 1971 the Austin Symphonyneeded a little help Compared to orchestras in other small towns at the time, it was doing relatively well, but funds were limited. The symphony conducted business in a cramped store-front office on 12th Street and Lamar Boulevard. It had done so for years. Finally, the size of the Symphony Society was too overwhelming to ignore.Enter Peggy Brown with a remedy At the time Brown was executive commissioner of the Heritage Society and a member of the Women's Symphony League. Fortunately for the Symphony Society, Brown's interests in the community were widespread Leon Lurie, executive director of the Urban Renewal Agency in Austin, offered Brown and the Heritage Society an old historic limestone building near the Capitol area. Brown, knowing of the symphony's plight, suggested to Lurie that the building could be better utilized for symphony business offices. He agreed.The building was old all right Itwas built m 1871 by Jeremiah Hamilton, one of the first blacks elected to the Texas Legislature. Convincing the Symphony board of directorsthat the graffiti-splattered and crumbling building would be suitable for anything but demolition, much less a cultural playground, wouldn't be easy. Brown entered the board meeting well equipped with explanations, suggestions and an oil painting of artist Jean Mobley's concept of the triangular-shaped building infully restored form. Agreements and paper work were out of the way quickly and the project was under way.Soon after, Brown met Austin Symphony President Jane Sibley, and they joined forces on the renovation endeavor Neither woman had office facilities. The worn Jeremiah Hamilton building, appearance improving each day, seemed as convenient a place as any to contact financial backers, since the contractor had a phone on the site. So, the two women set aside a corner in their newly acquired building, telephoning prospects and making their pleas for financial donations while the renovation went onBrown soon became the savior for three more crumbling century-old buildings. Over the next five years, plans were designed to move these additional treasures and create the Symphony Square complex.In 1975, Symphony Square, a $1million-plus project, became the first cultural arts center and historicalpreservation project in the country directly benefiting a symphony orchestra Today, the three limestone buildings stand at Red River and 11th streets. The complex also includes a 350-seat amphitheater overlooking Waller Creek. The stageextends from the base of the Jeremiah Hamilton building on the opposite bank of the creek. The fourth building sits on the other side of 11th Street.Our goal and our thrust was. and is, to educate audiences and to encourage young artists and musicians by having a place for them to perform. Brown said. 'What this square has done for us is given us avisual concept in the community The square is the symphony shome.”An expensive home indeed The Urban Renewal Society graciously handed four historical buildings to the Symphony Society no strings attached. The only catch in the plans was that the organization had verylittle money to finance the costly restoration and relocation of the buildings With no time to waste. Brown and Sibley plunged into a fund-raising campaignSupport was plentiful. The UrbanRenewal Fund contributed the majority of the money. Other donations came from the San Antonio Preservation Society, the Texas Commission for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mary MoodyFoundation, the Sid Richardson Foundation and IBMIt was a quaint home. The creme limestone facades reflect a simple elegance to an area otherwise cluttered with ordinary office buildings, banks and strip shopping centers. To the untrained eye. it is difficult to detect that the buildings were not originally built on the spot — professionals wheeled three of the old structures to their current location One was moved almost a third of amile.The Jeremiah Hamilton building rests on its original plot. However getting the other three buildings to the site proved to be a rather technical productionWhen two of the buildings needed relocation, Lurie went directly to Brown and offered them up for the Symphony Square project Delighted, Brown and the society snatched up the opportunity to obtain the New Orleans Club and Hardeman House. Acquiring the fourth entailed a little more workAfter hearing about the pending
Newspaper Details
Austin Daily Texan
Austin, Texas, US
Fri, Nov 21, 1986
Page 39
Full Page
Clipped by
Dallas G.
TX, USA 28 Jan 2021
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