Pease Auditorium
Pease Auditorium was built to accommodate a large pipe organ, but no such organ was fitted when the auditorium opened. An 81-rank Aeolian-Skinner organ was installed in the early 1960s, and was fully restored in the late 1990s. Pease Auditorium was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987, and a major renovation and addition program concluded in 2001.
History
In the early 20th century, the Michigan State Normal College was thriving. The institution that would become Eastern Michigan University was founded as the Michigan State Normal School in 1849, and became the Michigan State Normal College in 1899 with the introduction of four-year academic programs. With the growth of the institution, the Conservatory of Music's quarters in the former Training School building were becoming cramped. Two successive university presidents advocated for the construction of an auditorium, and the necessary funds were raised during the term of Charles McKenny. Pease Auditorium was constructed at a cost of $159,000, equivalent to $3.5 million in 2023.
The auditorium was initially planned to be named after John D. Pierce, the first Michigan Superintendent of Public Instruction. Ypsilanti residents objected during the construction, and petitioned to change the buildling's namesake to music professor Frederic H. Pease, who died suddenly in 1909. This effort was successful, and the auditorium was dedicated as Pease Auditorium on June 22, 1915.
Pease Auditorium featured the latest technologies in construction, ventilation, and lighting at its opening. The auditorium was constructed of fireproof concrete and steel, and was fitted with a ventilation system capable of providing entirely new fresh air every ten minutes. The building was fitted with 400 electric lights, designed to provide diffuse light that emulated daylight.
The original plans of the auditorium were drawn to accommodate a large pipe organ, but budget restrictions required the removal of the organ itself from the project. Frederick Alexander, successor to Pease as head of the Conservatory of Music, made it his mission to install a grand organ in Pease Auditorium. Alexander left $90,000 (equivalent to $799,000 in 2023) in his will to fund it, and plans for the organ began after Alexander's death in 1955. The first performance on the new Aeolian-Skinner organ was given in October 1960, after a year of tuning by music professor Erich Goldsmith. The stage was expanded to account for the size of the organ, removing 100 seats.