By Paolo Zialcita |
The actual concert hall will still be Boettcher, but for a cool couple million, the name of the entire building could be yours.
The city of Denver and the Colorado Symphony plan to sell the naming rights to Boettcher Concert Hall to fund a renovation of the downtown Denver venue.
The plan’s a bit complicated: The name “Boettcher Concert Hall” will stick around, but it will be transferred to the literal concert hall inside of the building.
“When you are in the building, certain parts of it feels like 1978,” Denver Arts and Venues Executive Director Gretchen Hollrah recently told a Denver City Council committee. “So we are overdue for a wall-to-wall renovation.”
What’s up for grabs?
The biggest asset available for renaming is the building currently known as the Boettcher Concert Hall. A 1977 rule allows the Boettcher Foundation to make the change.
“That building is currently named the Boettcher Concert Hall. (The Boettcher Foundation) brought us the idea that they could move that name into the interior concert hall to allow the city and symphony to be able to rename and fundraise on the outside of the building,” Hollrah said.
In addition to the building itself, several other spaces indoors could be renamed. In a slideshow presented to Denver City Council, areas like the performance stage, the new education center, lobby spaces, breakrooms, coat checks and even elevators were up for grabs.
Normally, because Boettcher Concert Hall is officially owned by the city, renaming it would require a lengthy public procedure. However, a bill making its way through Denver City Council exempts the concert hall from those procedures.
Funding is expected to be finalized by the end of the year. Construction will likely close the concert hall from June 2028 to August 2029.