The University of Iowa’s new Hancher Auditorium makes its debut on September 9. With a sculptural form composed of curving, cantilevered terraces clad in stainless steel and glass, the 1,800-seat performing arts facility is the result of intensive collaboration among design-team members from 17 organizations. Theater design is never simple, but a compressed schedule and atypical geometry added complexity to the design process. Thornton Tomasetti’s façade specialists, structural engineers and construction support professionals worked closely with one another and with all design and construction team members to develop sophisticated solutions to several significant engineering challenges.
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Thornton Tomasetti - Thursday, September 8, 2016
Iowa Public Radio - Thursday, September 8, 2016
From the time it opened in 1972, Hancher Auditorium on the University of Iowa campus was one of the premier performance spaces in Iowa. That all changed with the historic flooding of Eastern Iowa in 2008 when the auditorium was flooded beyond repair.
KCCI - Wednesday, September 7, 2016
A new Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa is set to be open this Friday. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports the original Hancher Auditorium opened in 1972. It was damaged beyond repair by a 2008 flood and the building's demolition started in 2013.
The Daily Iowan - Wednesday, September 7, 2016
On Friday, the new version of the legendary performance hall will open its doors to the public after eight long years of discussion, planning, and construction. Beginning with a ribbon-cutting celebration at 3 p.m., the day’s events will also include a formal open house, welcoming the community inside Hancher’s new walls. For those that won’t be able to make the event on Friday — or for those who want to get another look at the space — there will also be a second open house on Sept. 11.
KCCK - Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Culture Crawl 188 “Now With An Actual Building”
Rob Cline runs down the events of opening celebration of the new Hancher Auditorium, which includes a ribbon cutting and open house Sept. 9 & 11, a free outdoor concert with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Trombone Shorty on Sept. 16, and UI alum David Sanborn in concert Sept. 29.
Iowa City Press Citizen - Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Beautiful views and a building that is art itself are among the key features of the new Hancher Auditorium, rebuilt after flooding destroyed the University of Iowa performing arts center.
Little Village - Wednesday, September 7, 2016
This Friday, a six-year wait comes to an end as the Hancher Auditorium reopens to the delight of eastern Iowans with a ribbon-cutting ceremony this Friday, Sept. 9 at 3 p.m. Following the ceremony, there will be an open house and viewing of the University’s $176 million LEED gold certified auditorium and performance building.
Corridor Business Journal - Tuesday, September 6, 2016
This year, the university will nearly complete a campus-wide comeback, with the grand opening of the newly-rebuilt Hancher scheduled for Sept. 9 and the new venue’s first marquee acts opening later this month. A new school of music building and a new visual arts building also opened this year, while a new museum of art is tentatively scheduled to open in 2019.
KCRG - Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City is set to open to the public this Friday with a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house.
The Gazette - Sunday, September 4, 2016
The University of Iowa’s largest classroom has created an eight-year learning curve the likes of which no one could have imagined in June 2008.
That’s when raging floodwaters from the Iowa River engulfed Hancher Auditorium, the UI’s premiere performing arts center, sending staff scrambling to find other venues in which to present world-class artists until a new edifice could be financed, designed and built.