© 2024 Texas Public Radio
Real. Reliable. Texas Public Radio.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
The KPAC Blog features classical music news, reviews, and analysis from South Texas and around the world.

The Tobin Looks To Create "Wall Of Memories" For Concerts Past And Present

The Tobin Center
Jack Morgan
/
TPR Arts
View from the stage at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts .

The new Tobin Center for the Performing Arts is scheduled to open in September and will be the new home venue for the San Antonio Symphony, Ballet San Antonio and other arts companies. The high-tech performance venue is said to be one of the must-have parts of making the city world class in the arts. As Tobin Foundation Chair Bruce Bugg notes, the Tobin started with the voters.

"Bexar county voters overwhelmingly by a 65 percent vote supported the Bond Election," Bugg said.

I went to the downtown venue this morning to get an update and I can report that it is now very much taking shape. The interior scaffolding is gone, the ochre color palette is emerging. And to Tobin CEO Michael Fresher, it’s getting real.

"We are booking and scheduling our '14 and '15 season. It is chock full of the local arts. We are running out of dates!" Fresher said.

Fresher also introduced a new initiative.

"We can’t bring back Elvis and Jimi Hendrix" he said of two artists who have played what was known as the Municipal Auditorium in years past, but he's requesting photos from people who attended past events there.

"We’re calling it the Tobin Center’s Wall of Memories," Fresher said.

There is a Facebook application for loading your pictures and responding to others’ pictures. And it will all be updateable once the Tobin Center is open and new memories created.

County Judge Nelson Wolff said that San Antonio is "in the middle of a cultural renaissance."

We’ll keep you updated as the Tobin nears completion.

Jack Morgan can be reached at jack@tpr.org and on Twitter at @JackMorganii