The city of Dallas is hiring an acoustical consultant to try to help settle a controversy over the placement of Annette Strauss Artist Square.
Plans for the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts call for placing the outdoor performance space at the northeast corner of the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. Its stage would back up against a back corner of the center's Winspear Opera House, which is due to open in October 2009.
But the Dallas Symphony Association is protesting that amplified music in the artist square will be audible and distracting inside the Meyerson, and it has repeatedly raised the question since 2004. The Dallas Wind Symphony, which also performs in the Meyerson, has also sent a letter of concern to City Manager Mary Suhm.
After meetings Monday and Tuesday with Ms. Suhm, the symphony and the DCPA agreed to seek the advice of the acoustical-consulting firm Kirkegaard Associates. One of the meetings included Mark Penz, a director of project development for Kirkegaard, whose projects have included renovations of Orchestra Hall in Chicago and Royal Festival Hall in London.
File 2006
A model of the site, including the 10-acre performance park that stitches together the elements of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts
Two other acoustical consultants, hired separately by the DCPA and the symphony, reached different conclusions about sound-penetration potential.
Robert Essert, acoustician for the Winspear Opera House, says special loudspeaker arrays can control noise from the outdoor venue. But Artec Consultants, acousticians for the original design of the Meyerson, have told the symphony that amplified music outside will be audible inside the Meyerson.
The DCPA has offered to restrict outdoor performances to dates the symphony isn't performing or rehearsing, and Ms. Suhm said she added the wind symphony and the Turtle Creek Chorale to the do-not-conflict list. But the symphony is also worried about noise in its offices across the back of the Meyerson.
"We're working on it," Ms. Suhm said. "We talked about their concerns, their issues, what type of performances would be involved. We had a meeting to talk about scheduling solutions. We agreed to come back next week or the following week.
"We all understand we've got to get something resolved in the next two or three months. I think it's going to be kind of a slow process, with a lot of detail," Ms. Suhm said.
