Hill Hall to receive $15 million in renovations come 2015

Hill Hall, which served as the University’s first library and now houses the music department, will undergo $15 million worth of renovations starting in 2015.

The renovation will primarily focus on Hill Hall’s rotunda and auditorium, said Mark Katz, an ethnomusicology professor and music department chairman.

“That space wasn’t made for music,” Katz said. “The acoustics have been OK, we’ve made some improvements, but it’s never been ideal.

“We’re essentially going to get a new auditorium.”

The $15 million will be composed of $5 million from the Office of the Provost, $5 million from a fundraising campaign led by the College of Arts and Sciences, and the final $5 million will be contributed by the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust, according to a press release from UNC News.

Katz said Kenan Music Building, built in 2008, was originally supposed to include a concert hall and additional rehearsal space, but plans to include those in its construction were scrapped due to lack of funding and logistical challenges.

“We see this renovation of Hill as a satisfactory substitute for the completion of Kenan,” said Chancellor Emeritus James Moeser, a trained concert organist and current music faculty member.

Richard Krasno, executive director of the Kenan Trust, said he views the renovations as a continuation of the trust’s interest in the arts at UNC.

“With the creation of the Kenan Scholars Program and the Kenan Music Building … we wanted to construct a program that was truly first-class, which requires good faculty, excellent students and good facilities,” Krasno said.

“We have an excellent faculty. We’ve always had excellent students … and the Kenan Music Building has been very helpful. But we felt that Hill Hall was antiquated and that the department needed more facilities to accommodate the faculty and the first-rate students.”

Bobby Warren, a sophomore music major, said he and other students welcome the renovations.

“There’s a fine line between historic and out-dated,” Warren said. “Hill Hall … I love that building. But it needs some serious work.”

Andrew Carnegie funded the construction of Hill Hall in 1907.

In 1930, the building was named after University trustee John Sprunt Hill, who helped fund renovations.

Now, the Kenan Trust is another link in the University’s long history of supporting the arts through private donor funding.

“We’re the nations oldest public university,” Moeser said. “The university’s founding was assisted by private support, and we have a long and wonderful tradition of private support, which helped us make this one of the best institutions in the country.”

Contact the desk editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.