page_title: Cincinnati Music Hall
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Cincinnati Music Hall / History / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: An engraving entitled "Music Hall and Exposition Buildings" from Cincinnati illustrated by Kenny, D. J., Cincinnati, O., Robert Clarke &amp; co., 1879.
context_page_description: Music Hall, commonly known as Cincinnati Music Hall, is a classical music performance hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, completed in 1878. It serves as the home for the Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, May Festival Chorus, and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. In January 1975, it was recognized as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior for its distinctive Venetian Gothic architecture. The building was designed with a dual purpose – to house musical activities in its central auditorium and industrial exhibitions in its side wings. It is located at 1241 Elm Street, across from the historic Washington Park in Over-the-Rhine, minutes from the center of the downtown area
  Music Hall was built over a pauper's cemetery, which has helped fuel its reputation as one of the most haunted places in America.
  In June 2014, Music Hall was included on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual list of America's 11 most endangered historic places.
context_section_description: Springer, influenced by the beneficial results the industrial expositions and musical festivals had on the city, wrote a letter in May 1875 to John Shillito, owner of Shillito's department store, offering to donate $125,000 under two conditions. First, that the site be free from taxation, and second, that a further sum of $125,000 be raised by the community. When only $106,000 was raised Springer donated an additional $20,000.  From the outset, the musical and industrial interests collided, so Springer offered an additional $50,000 if $100,000 could be raised.  This additional sum of money would be used for the construction of buildings around the hall for the purpose of holding industrial expositions.  The total cost of Music Hall was $300,962.78 with the exposition wings an additional $146,331.51.
  Along with other community leaders such as Julius Dexter, W. H. Harrison, T. D. Lincoln, Joseph Longworth, Robert Mitchell, John Shillito and Reuben Springer organized the Music Hall Association to build the new hall. The group oversaw the construction and fundraising necessary to complete the space.
  Construction on Cincinnati Music Hall began in 1876, shortly after Hannaford and Porter was given the contract. The project was divided into multiple phases, first focusing on the construction of the center building, Music Hall. Following several issues regarding weather and resources, the project was fast tracked in hopes of completing work on Music Hall prior to the 1878 May Festival Chorus performance.
  After Music Hall was completed, new funds were raised and resources were allocated for the completion of both the Northern and Southern Exposition Halls, two spaces utilized as the City of Cincinnati's primary convention spaces from their construction through the 1970s.
  Although the 3 buildings were constructed separately, they were immediately joined together using second story passageways. This allowed for events to span all 3 spaces while also allowing several groups to share this space at once.
caption: The original design of Music Hall.
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