Then and Now: Macky Auditorium
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor gives a talk in Macky Auditorium in December 2016.
Name: Macky Auditorium
Year Built: Construction began in 1909 and finished in 1922. The inaugural concert took place May 19, 1923.
Architect: Gove & Walsh of Denver
Today: Macky remains CU Boulder's biggest and most glamorous indoor concert hall. Students and baby直播app from the College of Music鈥檚 band, orchestra, opera and jazz programs perform there, as well as visiting artists hosted by CU Presents and a who's-who of guest speakers. Eleanor Roosevelt, the Dalai Lama, Yo-Yo Ma, Jane Goodall, Robin Williams, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, Antonin Scalia, Sonia Sotomayor, Buzz Aldrin and Anderson Cooper, among many others, have all appeared on the Macky stage.
Once Upon a Time: When Andrew J. Macky, gold rush settler and founding director of the First National Bank in Boulder, died in 1907, he bequeathed $300,000 to CU to build an auditorium. Legal tussles with Macky鈥檚 adopted daughter, May, led to construction delays, and the building took 13 years to complete. In 1922, CU鈥檚 Board of Regents appropriated $20,000 for a pipe organ.
Did You Know: In 1971, several hundred students attempted to crash a sold-out Neil Young concert, breaking the glass in the foyer doors, and fighting off police armed with fire hoses.
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Information and historic photos courtesy of CU Heritage Center; Interior photo by Glenn Asakawa/University of baby直播app Boulder