Lincoln Center Reverses Course On $500M Renovation Project

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic will no longer move forward with a $500 million renovation project to improve the performing arts center's David Geffen Hall, the two organizations announced Tuesday in a press release.

"After a concentrated period of deep review and thoughtful evaluation, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the New York Philharmonic have decided to re-envision the strategy that will steer the forthcoming renovations of David Geffen Hall," Lincoln Center officials said in a statement.

"The two organizations will forgo the original design proposal, and instead move forward with a new master plan—one that will be ambitious, but will center primarily on improving audience and artist experiences inside the hall, and will include phased renovations."

Lincoln Center and the Philharmonic said that "complexities" in the original design for the David Geffen Hall renovation "compelled the two organizations to perform additional due diligence on the vital project."

The original renovation project was launched in 2015 with a $100 million gift from media mogul David Geffen to create a new concert hall within Lincoln Center while preserving the outside shell of the building, the New York Times reported. In return for the gift, the building was named David Geffen Hall.

Geffen voiced support for Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic despite the scrapped renovation plans.

"I’m happy. I know they’ll do something great,” Geffen told the Times in a statement.

The two organizations will announce future plans to redevelop the auditorium at a future date, according to a press release.

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