Powell Hall - St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

718 N Grand Blvd, Saint Louis, MO 63103

Powell Hall is the home of the St. Louis Symphony. It was named after Walter S. Powell, a local St. Louis businessman, whose widow donated $1 million towards the purchase and use of this hall by the symphony. The hall seats 2,683.

the building was originally called The St. Louis Theater. It was built in 1925 with 4,100 seats, designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Rapp & Rapp. The theater spent the first 40 years of its existence as a stage for live vaudeville performances as well as motion pictures. The last movie shown in the old theater was The Sound of Music in 1966. The building was acquired by the Symphony Society for $500,000, through a gift from Oscar Johnson, Jr.. After spending an additional $2 million to update and renovate the theater, the hall re-opened in january 1968 as the new home of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is the second-oldest professional symphony orchestra in the United States, precede only by the New York Philharmonic.

The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is said to be haunted by the ghost of a man named George. He is supposedly seen in a white suit and white hat and is thought to be that of a former vaudevillian. He is said to play with the lights and elevators.

If you look north on Grand Ave, you will see the spire of St. Alphonsus Liguori "Rock" Catholic Church. The church's Gothic Revival design is attributed to the Rev. Louis Dold, C.Ss.R., working with St. Louis architects Thomas Waryng Walsh and James Smith. The church's spire reaches 237 feet and was completed in 1893.