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Hancher season in limbo

By Gigi Wood

Ah, the memories.

After 35 years, there are a lot of memories at Hancher Auditorium and more to be made, according to the venue's director.

“There’re a lot of memories of things that have happened here and people want to keep those memories happening and that’s what we want to do, too,” says Charles Swanson, executive director of Hancher.

At least $13 million in damages were created when floodwaters last month seeped into the 2,533-seat auditorium on the University of Iowa campus.

“That’s just kind of a preliminary estimate,” Swanson says. “It’s really not hard and fast.”

With the 2008-2009 season slated to start about two months from now, Hancher officials are quickly trying to find new venues for the events.

“I can’t announce any of that yet,” he says. “We’re still working on it. We’re still in the midst of making plans. Part of it is it’s complicated because not only do we have to find space but we also have to work it through with the artists and the agents and everybody’s got to be comfortable with the new spaces.”

It’s possible some shows could be canceled.

“We’re trying to find the best, most suitable space possible for the events that we can keep,” he says. “We’re trying to preserve as much of the season as we possibly can.”

Meanwhile, Hancher officials are also working to start planning the repair and renovation of the building. The flood damaged theater seats, the stage floor, mechanical systems and equipment backstage.

“This is a very important renovation,” Swanson says. “Hancher’s complicated. It’s more complicated than a classroom. There’re a lot of things that go into a theater.”

His hope is to hire a theater consultant to lead them through the rebuild.

“We would really like to hire someone, a theater consultant, to guide us through the process because we really want to make the best decisions that we possibly can make and there’s a lot of things that exist out in the world and we can’t be aware of all of that,” he says. “Consultants are in tune to the latest and the finest and the best so that’s how we would like to proceed.”

Because of the complexity of the renovation process, it could be awhile before performances return to the auditorium.

“It’s definitely going to take some time but the time is well spent because I really do think we’re going to end up with an even better performing arts center than what we had before,” he says. “It’s an opportunistic time.”

Swanson is enthusiastic about the 2009-2010 season.

“Hopefully by that time we’ll have a real big celebration,” he says. “Who knows, but we’re sure hoping that we can showcase our great new space, our great renovated space. So we’re aiming to make things even better than before. That’s our goal.”

Once it’s repaired and renovated, the memories can begin again at Hancher.

“Really, it’s happened and we need to move forward in the most positive and upbeat way that we can,” Swanson says. “What’s interesting, too, is that Hancher is so loved by so many people. We heard from people definitely in the community, in the state, but also we’ve heard from people all across the country. And we’ve heard from artists who really know how special this place is and that means a lot. It really, really does.”

Gigi Wood is a reporter for the Corridor Business Journal; contact her at gigi@corridorbiznews.com.