Guild Hall Starts A Facilitywide Capital Improvements Project

Last June, Guild Hall instituted a capital campaign in celebration of its 90th anniversary, to bring the facility to the next level.

Launched with an early goal of $10 million, it met with enthusiastic support — and the now $25 million capital campaign includes dedicated capabilities for advancing the institution’s arts program and increasing its reserve fund to deepen and sustain programming, education and community engagement, ensuring Guild Hall’s mission remains uninterrupted for years to come.

Now, it looks like the fabled East Hampton institution, which first opened its doors in 1931, is poised to bring that vision to fruition.

On February 16, Guild Hall released details about its facilitywide capital improvements project and campaign to reimagine its building at 158 Main Street for 21st century audiences. The planned project is a direct result of the organization’s 2020–2025 strategic plan to strengthen its position as an artist-driven, interdisciplinary institution.

According to a release, the comprehensive enhancements at the facility will see the structural and technological upgrade of Guild Hall’s grounds and 90-year-old building — encompassing its museum, theater, education center and administrative offices. The stated goal of the project is to improve flexibility and accessibility to meet the needs of “Guild Hall’s diverse community of visual and performing artists, students, staff, and expanding seasonal and year-round community.”

“Guild Hall is the cultural heart of our community,” said Guild Hall Board Chair Marty Cohen. “Our board and leadership are fully committed to these visionary improvements because we believe that the evolution of our capabilities is essential to Guild Hall’s continued vitality.”

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reimagine Guild Hall’s capabilities and offer artists, audiences, and the next generation the exceptional environment they deserve,” Guild Hall Executive Director Andrea Grover said of the campaign.

With the facility currently closed, construction is slated to begin in spring 2022, with completion and re-opening expected in late spring 2023. This is not the first renovation of the facility in recent years. In April 2009, The New York Times reported that Guild Hall had recently completed a five-year, $13 million renovation of the theater and museum spaces.

The design team spearheading the project includes Peter Pennoyer Architects (PPA), a firm specializing in the renovation and preservation of historic buildings both in the United States and globally. PPA’s recent work includes the design of the clock of the new Moynihan Train Station in New York City.

Planned architectural improvements at Guild Hall include the remodeling of the museum with gallery spaces designed to enhance flexibility and flow. The project will also increase wall space for the display of art and heightened entry clearances to accommodate artists practicing across a range of disciplines and their most ambitious works. Galleries will also be equipped with state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems — including LED lighting and the innovative repurposing of the building’s original framing to maximize control of natural light — all upgraded to ensure greater sustainability and versatility.

The HVAC system will likewise be optimized to enhance control, airflow and energy efficiency throughout the museum, theater and operational spaces. Also planned is the creation of an art-handling facility to support installation, packing and temporary storage of artwork, a feature recommended for Guild Hall as a formally accredited member of the American Alliance of Museums. In addition, improvements will be made to staff offices to create a collaborative environment representative of new directions in professional work spaces.

Guild Hall will also undertake improvements to its Boots Lamb Education Center. An improved classroom will be outfitted with the latest technological tools to enhance education and training in creative skills for local youth. The space will be used for art workshops and drop-in classes for students of various ages and experience levels, as well as by Guild Hall’s Teen Arts Council.

“Our approach is to restore traditional elements in a more contemporary way with the best technology available to us now — to bring Guild Hall into the future, while being respectful of its longstanding presence in East Hampton,” said Peter Pennoyer, PPA principal partner and fellow of the American Institute of Architects. “We are excited to work closely with the rest of the design team to make Guild Hall a more welcoming and accessible place for visitors, staff and artists.”

The new plan is also designed to allow for the expansion of Guild Hall’s shared public spaces with a goal of creating organic zones for gathering, reflecting and socializing. A remodeled lobby and visitor arrival area will be redesigned to improve accessibility, function and aesthetic appeal.

In terms of the outdoor areas, New York-based Hollander Design | Landscape Architects will shepherd the landscape design, which will see Guild Hall’s grounds — including existing parking spaces — enhanced for safety, efficiency and sustainability. The plan will add to the existing tree canopy transition gardens, green spaces, native plants and grasses, and stormwater drainage systems will be upgraded to improve the facility’s impact on the environment. The addition of terraced seating in the Frieda and Roy Furman Sculpture Garden will also create opportunities for outdoor arts programming.

“The planned enhancements will improve the ecological footprint of Guild Hall and create an aesthetically pleasing, functionally practical, and safer environment/grounds, allowing Guild Hall to stand as a good neighbor within the village and serve as a gateway to East Hampton,” said the firm’s president, Ed Hollander.

Guild Hall’s plan also calls for improvements to its John Drew Theater, spearheaded by Bran Ferren, co-founder of the design firm Applied Minds LLC, and the former president of Research and Development at The Walt Disney Company. The new design will optimize acoustics and lighting and outfit the facility with top-of-the-line automatic technology and external broadcast capabilities to meet the evolving needs of today’s performing artists. From the guest perspective, the design will bring improved sightlines, audio intelligibility and seating comfort. A thrust stage and construction of a new wrapped balcony is designed to create greater intimacy of experience between audiences and performers.

“Guild Hall has played such a pivotal role in the artistic and cultural evolution of East Hampton and of America, and the John Drew Theater is foundational in this,” said Ferren, an East Hampton native and former Guild Hall technical director. “It’s essential that Guild Hall’s technology keep pace with artmaking today to continue its vital legacy in serving the next generations of artists and audiences.”

East End general contractor Ray Harden, co-owner of Ben Krupinski Builder, will lead project construction, while Sag Harbor’s Chris DiSunno of DiSunno Architecture will coordinate the theater improvements with Jon Maass and Pamela Torres as owners’ representatives.

The design, construction, and advisory team also includes Conceptual Lighting, Arrowstreet, 2x4, Leonard Ackerman, and Twomey, Latham, Shea, Kelley, Dubin & Quartararo LLP.

“Guild Hall is the cultural heart of our community,” said Guild Hall Board Chair Marty Cohen. “Our board and leadership are fully committed to these visionary improvements because we believe that the evolution of our capabilities is essential to Guild Hall’s continued vitality.”

While construction to its facility in East Hampton is underway, Guild Hall will present a schedule of off-site arts programming in collaboration with institutional partners, including Works & Process at the Guggenheim Museum, The Church, Plain Sight Project, Eastville Community Historical Society and Museum, Project Most, Ma’s House & BIPOC Art Studio, DIA Art Foundation, Hamptons Dance Project and others. Learning and public engagement initiatives such as the Teen Arts Council and Artist-in-Residence program will expand and continue in 2022, most notably with the launch of the new Guild Hall William P. Rayner Artist-in-Residence.

More information on ongoing and upcoming programming this season can be found via Guild Hall’s website, guildhall.org.