A summer renovation of Emens Auditorium will include 3,200 new seats, a refinished concrete floor and a new audio system, Emens Director Bob Myers said.
The auditorium, which was built in 1964, has attracted world-renowned musicians, comedians, and performers, and the renovations will only increase its stature, staff members said.
"We're an excellent venue with a great supporting staff and box office," Myers said.
The new seats will be installed as part of a capital campaign renovation project, he said. Ticket prices of shows in the future will not increase to compensate for the price of the remodeling.
New auditoriums have recently opened in the Muncie area, but Myers said this did not affect the university's decision to remodel. Ball State and Emens try to work with local venues cooperatively, he said. Indiana Wesleyan University and Wabash College are among schools in the area that will open new auditoriums.
"I plan for major renovations every year," he said. "This is a necessary expenditure. Seats that are used this often will only last a couple decades. Some of the old seats were falling through or had exposed metal that was embarrassing."
The old seats were installed in 1963 and were last worked on in 1993, when they were repadded and covered with greenish-blue fabric. The new seats will have wooden backs that will be stained to match the walnut doors and sit higher to provide patrons with better views, while also providing better acoustics in the room.
"The original seats have been here for 43 years," Myers said. "They are going to be resealed and new seats will be installed. We're also touching up paint on the ceiling where it's peeling."
Plans of the renovation also include a new audio system that will provide a cleaner, crisper sound for lectures and other events, according to a university press release.
"Based on what I've seen of the [Indiana Wesleyan auditorium] budget, they might have comfortable seating, but they aren't going to have the same technological setting as ours," Meyers said.
Emens' sound system and acoustics have been elements that have made the auditorium distinguished over the years.
"The new sound system will replace the console and main speaker clusters as well as a dedicated center speaker cluster in the ceiling," Christian O'Brien, sound stage technician for Emens, said. "We'll also be able to hang left and right clusters to better accommodate future performances such as rock shows." The old speakers were installed in 1996 and were in need of replacing, O'Brien said.
The renovations are scheduled to be completed by Aug. 17.
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