Supervisors Back Plan to Replace Bowl’s Shell

Despite opposition from preservationists, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors gave initial approval Tuesday to replacing the Hollywood Bowl’s orchestral shell, a deteriorating, 71-year-old cultural icon.

Noting that the shell is too small to shelter the entire Bowl orchestra and that the acoustics are notoriously bad, the board unanimously adopted an environmental plan for building a larger replacement and improving the concert venue’s offices and dressing rooms beneath the stage.

The $17-million project, which will be funded with park bond money, was supported by musicians and representatives of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra who testified about the shell’s poor acoustics.

In some areas under the shell, sound is trapped, forcing musicians to wear earplugs during concerts, the musicians said. In other areas, speakers are needed so musicians can hear other members of the orchestra, they said.

Jay Rosen, a violinist, called the acoustics “beastly.”

The semi-spherical shell, with its signature concentric arches, was built in 1929 and has been rebuilt and repaired several times over the years. Still, preservationists argued that the structure is a piece of Los Angeles history that should be saved.

“You and I are merely going through history,” said Hollywood Heritage President Robert Nudelman, borrowing a line from the film “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” “This is history.”

Linda Dishman, executive director of the Los Angeles Conservancy, urged the supervisors to try to salvage the shell, which she called Hollywood’s “most beloved icon.”

Through the years, the 17,416-seat Bowl in the Cahuenga Pass has hosted artists as diverse as the Beatles, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Tony Bennett, Chick Corea, Sting and Elton John.

The Hollywood Bowl souvenir book says the shell “has become as recognizable as the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty.”

Still, musicians and county officials said, the shell is so small that nearly one-third of the orchestra members are forced to sit outside it, where they cannot hear one another.

The shell leaks during storms, allowing rainwater to soak into the bowl offices beneath the stage, they added.

John Mauceri, conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, who has conducted more than 200 concerts in the shell, told the supervisors that his musicians deserve a better facility.

“I would remind you that the Bowl is not the shell,” he said.

Al Espinoza, president of the Professional Musicians Union, said the shell has outlived its usefulness.

“This is the 21st century and we should move into the 21st century and tear this down,” he said.

The new shell would resemble the existing one, complete with copies of the famous arches, but would be one-third bigger to cover the entire 105-member orchestra. The new lighting and sound system would be integrated into the shell so that unsightly scaffolding and light fixtures would no longer hang over the orchestra.

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who represents the area around the Bowl, said he has considered trying to save the shell but determined that it is too expensive and troublesome, considering that the shell’s metal frame is coated with asbestos and lead paint.

“I am a preservationist, an ardent preservationist,” he said. “But sometimes we see there is no other alternative” to demolition.

Under the board’s motion, county officials are expected to complete final plans and detailed budget projections by November for the board’s approval. Construction would not affect next summer’s concert season. The new shell and the improvements beneath the stage would be scheduled for completion in time for the 2002 summer concert season.

Experts have tried numerous times to solve the shell’s acoustics problems.

In 1970, architect Frank Gehry, working with an acoustician, installed large cardboard tubes inside the shell to enhance sound. Ten years later, the tubes were discarded and Gehry attached the fiberglass spheres that still hang from the ceiling.

“This thing has been bastardized five ways to Sunday,” Yaroslavsky said.

In an attempt to reach out to preservationists, Yaroslavsky instructed county staff members to nominate the Bowl for the National Registry of Historic Places--once the new shell is built.

After the meeting, Nudelman called the motion a “sickening approach” to historic preservation, saying the current shell should be preserved as a historic landmark.

Supervisor Gloria Molina voted to adopt the plan for the new shell but worried that the project would not stay within its budget.

She said many projects, including small libraries in her district, end up with huge cost overruns.