Renovations to Memorial Auditorium will include a drive-through canopy

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WORTHINGTON — The most recent round of blueprints for the Memorial Auditorium addition show a drive-through canopy on the east side of the addition.

The canopy will be unattached to the building, but will allow vehicle drivers to drop off their passengers before finding a parking space.

It will be built in the same art deco style as the addition and should help shelter visitors from the elements, SEH Engineer Steve Robinson explained during a meeting Wednesday of the Memorial Auditorium Renovation Committee.

Following up on concerns raised by the city council, City Administrator Craig Clark also asked auditorium manager Margaret Hurlbut Vosburgh whether the backstage prop storage area could have a wall or moveable partition built around it.

Some council members said the area was unsightly and that building a wall could also save on heating costs by allowing the prop room to be heated at a lower temperature than the rest of the auditorium.

Vosburgh said the people who rent the space don’t mind the props, and besides, she added, the flats (pieces used to build sets) are too large to maneuver around walls.

“It’s nice to have an open area,” she said. “It’s not an aesthetic problem for me and for people touring the building. I think they’d like to see what we do back here.”

Savings in heating would be minimal, Robinson said.

Outside, the number of spaces in the parking lot will be increased from the current 64 to 71, and Robinson mentioned the possibility of replacing the existing parking lot asphalt.

Concerns were also raised about people who would park on the Seventh Avenue side of the building having to follow the sidewalk around the parking lot to get to the entrance of the addition. Robinson said he would consider putting some pedestrian cross hatches across the parking lot, which would theoretically be safer than people taking shortcuts across the parking lot in an unorganized fashion.

At any rate, said Robinson, “The new parking layout should relieve some congestion.”

On Monday, the city council authorized the advertisement of bids for the Memorial Auditorium Addition, and demolition and construction are currently slated to begin May 26.

Tags: news, memorialauditorium, worthington, renovation