Buddy Holly would have turned 80 today (Sept. 7th). His hometown of Lubbock Texas is honouring his memory by building the Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences, and they’ve turned to Canada for help with the project. Chosen to design the Hall is the internationally-renowned Toronto-based company, Diamond Schmitt Architects.

The firm’s website states that “the multi-purpose nature of the venue will allow for a wide range of activity, from opera, Broadway shows and symphonic music, to rock concerts, conferences and social events. In addition to local performing arts groups and touring shows, the facility will house Ballet Lubbock with its own rehearsal and performance space and provide access to the Lubbock Independent School District as a learning centre."

The company’s principal, Jack Diamond, says “The aim for Lubbock is to create a performing arts centre as good acoustically, as welcoming to the public, and as attractive to performers to be among the best halls in North America.”

Inspired by and in the spirit of Lubbock, West Texas, and the South Plains, Buddy Holly Hall will feature a 2,200-seat main theatre, an additional 400-seat theatre, a 5,000-square-foot multi-purpose room and a 22,000-square-foot Dance Centre.

The floor of the main auditorium can have raked seating or be flat for a standing audience, either below or in line with the stage. The hall will have top-tier natural acoustics for a large symphony orchestra as well as cutting-edge amplified sound for touring bands and shows.

The Lubbock Entertainment and Performing Arts Association (LEPAA), which is developing the project, has already raised $81-million of the $146 million fundraising target. Construction is set to commence later this year with a projected opening in 2019.

Diamond Schmitt Architects has designed many concert halls, opera houses and theatres worldwide: Among these are the New Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, La Maison Symphonique in Montreal, The Harman Center for the Arts in Washington, D.C., and the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto. The firm recently won an international design competition to reimagine Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall in New York City. 

Read more on the Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences here