SLSO Stories

Follow Along with the Powell Hall Expansion and Renovation

Powell Hall is one of America’s most acoustically renowned and visually stunning concert halls—and home to your St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. We’re renovating and expanding the 98-year-old building to preserve and enhance our civic treasure for generations to come.

This project is inspired by you: our goal is to provide greater access to music, an even more welcoming and comfortable experience for all, and a creative hub that helps us build connections through the power of music.

The revitalized Powell Hall will open in 2025 to coincide with the building’s centennial. We look forward to celebrating with you.

Learn more about the expansion and renovation

December 15, 2023

Watch as the floor for the SLSO’s new Education and Learning Center is poured in the video below.

  • December 7, 2023

    In a milestone for the expansion and renovation of Powell Hall, construction crews poured the first floor of the Education and Learning Center at the southeast corner of the building. Sheer walls are also rising around the new expansion. Connecting to the existing building, the Education and Learning Center will become the new home for […]

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  • November 8, 2023

    As the backstage expansion of Powell Hall progresses (the walls and floors now visible to passersby), the outline of the new entrance and visitors’ services expansion is taking shape. Positioned south of the existing building, this part of the expansion will welcome audiences in through a dramatic glass arch, allowing natural light to flood the […]

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  • October 25, 2023

    No, those silver sleeves aren’t new stools added to the Powell Hall auditorium! The construction team continues coring holes in the auditorium floor for HVAC diffusers. The sleeves on top of the existing floor will allow air to pass through the new concrete poured on the orchestra level floor. When complete, the new concrete overpour […]

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  • September 26, 2023

    The first floor of the new backstage expansion has been poured and renovation continues on Powell Hall’s interior. An unseen milestone recently occurred which paves the way for construction on the new lobby expansion. Strongbacks, or I-Beams, were recently installed in the basement of Powell Hall’s south wall. These steel structures brace the existing foundation […]

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  • September 1, 2023

    On August 30, SLSO staff took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Powell Hall construction site. While the new backstage expansion is beginning to take shape, crews are hard at work deconstructing parts of the existing building as we prepare to renovate the space with upgraded amenities for audiences and artists. Everything you love about the […]

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  • August 9, 2023

    This week brought a milestone for the expansion and renovation of Powell Hall. After months of excavation, drilling, and site preparation, the construction team poured the basement slab for the new back of house expansion. This part of the expansion will contain musicians and guest artist services, including a new music library, practice rooms, and […]

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  • July 18, 2023

    The expansion and renovation of historic Powell Hall presses onward. As the backstage expansion begins to take shape, the construction team started excavation for the new entry hall and guest services building. Once complete, the expanded entry will transform the visitor experience, providing much needed space for gathering, plus expanded amenities, including more restrooms, additional […]

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  • July 5, 2023

    Recently, Powell Hall renovation work made its way into the basement of the current building, where construction crews removed all three of the current boilers that have heated the historic landmark for decades. The boilers will all be replaced with new units, which will greatly improve the efficiency of the building, save money for the […]

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  • June 16, 2023

    As summer kicks into high gear, activity at the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s Powell Hall construction site continues to heat up. Foundation walls have begun to rise for the new back of house expansion, and demolition work continues on the building’s exterior. Meanwhile, renovation work has begun on the interior of the building, including the […]

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  • June 8, 2023

    Warren Sign, a St. Louis-based business, removed the iconic signs that illuminated the way to the parking lot east of Powell Hall for countless concert attendees. They were designed by Kiku Obata, daughter of legendary architect Gyo Obata, for Grand Center to increase visibility of its parking lots. Each lot had the same design but […]

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  • June 2, 2023

    As construction progresses on the backstage expansion of Powell Hall, decisions about the new front of house expansion–which includes a new lobby and Education and Learning Center–continue. On June 2, SLSO leaders and project representatives–including architects from Snøhetta, the project’s lead architecture firm–reviewed a mock up of bricks for the façade of the new entry […]

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