Cincinnati Music Hall
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.
Address
1241 Elm Street
Cincinnati, Ohio
United States
Cincinnati Arts Association
2,289 (Springer Auditorium)
1,300 (Ballroom)
1876–1878
14 May 1878
1969–1975, 2016–2017
Hannaford, Samuel, & Sons
Hannaford, Samuel, & Sons
Hannaford, Samuel, & Sons TR
January 26, 1970
December 2, 1974
Music Hall was built over a pauper's cemetery, which has helped fuel its reputation as one of the most haunted places in America.[2]
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.[3] After being closed for over a year for a $143 million renovation, Music Hall was reopened in 2017.
History[edit]
Pre-construction[edit]
On September 13, 1818, the City of Cincinnati purchased a plot of land from Jesse Embree for $3,200 on the west side of Elm Street, just north of 12th Street.[12] On January 22, 1821, the Ohio State Legislature passed an act that established "a Commercial Hospital and Lunatic Asylum for the state of Ohio."[13] Thus, Ohio's first insane asylum was erected in Cincinnati on 4 acres (16,000 m2) of land bounded by the Miami and Erie Canal.[13][14] The Commercial Hospital and Lunatic Asylum of Ohio was the parent institution for the Orphan Asylum, the City Infirmary, the Cincinnati Hospital, and Longview Asylum.[13] Cincinnati Hospital, the main facility, was located along the canal at 12th and Plum Streets,[15] which is now 12th and Central Parkway.
Following the Cholera outbreak of 1832, the land was used as a "pauper's cemetery" [16] until 1857 when city encroachment on the neighborhood made it unsuitable for such uses. Serious complaints from abutting property owners forced the "Pest House" to be relocated outside of the city limits. On January 29, 1859, the city converted the property into a park known as Elm Street Park and the land and buildings were used for exposition purposes until 1876 when it was turned over to the Music Hall Association.[12]
Choir festivals and expositions[edit]
Cincinnati's first industrial exposition, which was in 1869, was a great success so the city wanted to expand it the following year.[17] At the same time, German musicians had plans to erect "a great temporary building opposite Washington Park" for the North American Saengerbund, which Cincinnati was to host during the summer of 1870. The two competing groups reached an agreement to construct a building that would be shared.[18] Depending on its use, the building was sometimes called Exposition Hall or Saengerfest Hall.
Paranormal[edit]
Various employees of Music Hall have described experiencing strange events in the facility, while others say they've never experienced anything at all. In the 2005 documentary Music Hall: Cincinnati Finds Its Voice, Patricia K. Beggs, the CEO of the Cincinnati Opera, acknowledged, "Ghosts? Um, yes. Indeed, there are Music Hall ghosts." Erich Kunzel, late conductor for the Cincinnati Pops, once stated, "Sometimes when I was arranging, getting things together, I've worked here all night long. So I've met these people. They're not in the offices, but when you go out into the house they're there, they're upstairs. ... If you think I'm crazy just come here sometime at three o'clock in the morning. They're very friendly."[19]
Ghosts were first reported before Music Hall was built, after the ground was first excavated for an Exposition Hall elevator.[38]
Neither Marie Gallagher, who worked at Music Hall for 25 years, nor Ed Vignale, facilities engineer, have experienced anything unusual at Music Hall. Viganle noted that some strange sounds could be attributed to Music Hall's acoustical ability to project sounds.[2]
Music Hall was selected as one of The Travel Channel's Most Terrifying Places in America and for the SYFY TV show Ghost Hunters.
Notes
Sources