August 29, 2003 -- Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, the grande dame among facilities in Houston's Theater District, is set to open its doors for the new performing arts season.

The City of Houston, which manages Jones Hall (www.joneshall.org) through its Convention & Entertainment Facilities Department, is removing scaffolding and other renovation equipment near the box office and front door of Jones Hall. This effort will make the main entryway more pleasing when Houston Symphony opens its 2003-2004 season on Wednesday, September 3, with the Houston Chronicle Dollar Concert.

Jones Hall, which was built in 1966 and is the oldest performing arts venue in the downtown Theater District, is located at 615 Louisiana at Capitol. It is the subject of a $7.4 million project to replace or refurbish nearly 4,500 travertine marble panels on the building exterior. The panels are original to the building and have deteriorated.

"Jones Hall will open on schedule," said Dawn Ullrich, director of the Convention & Entertainment Facilities Department. "This has been a very complex project and we want to finish it correctly, but we also want to ensure the patrons of Jones Hall that our front entrance will not provide any obstacles with the start of the new season."

Ullrich said workers have cleaned and repaired the marble surfaces on the walls near the box office in a way that will typify how the rest of the building will appear when work is finalized next spring.

The next milestone in the project will take place on or about October 1, when other scaffolding fronting the building is removed. This scaffolding, which surrounds the exterior columns and extends laterally, 25 feet up from the street, allows workers to repair panels near the roof.

While work has progressed outside, Jones Hall staff took advantage of the summer hiatus to complete a series of mechanical and electrical projects inside the building.

Jones Hall is the home to resident art companies Houston Symphony (www.houstonsymphony.org) and Society for the Performing Arts (www.spahouston.org). SPA's first scheduled concert in Jones Hall this season is October 2, when the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, directed by Wynton Marsalis, performs.

For Jones Hall and other Theatre District events, click the Calendar of Events link from www.houstontx.gov.