Pease Auditorium

Pease Auditorium is significant as the long time center of musical culture for the Eastern Michigan University community and the city of Ypsilanti and as the landmark of the Neo-Classical Revival in Ypsilanti. Eastern Michigan University's Department of Music was established in 1854 with Albert Miller as the first director. Ezra M. Foote replaced Miller in 1858 and, in January, 1864, Frederic H. Pease replaced him. Pease (1839-1909), for whom Pease Auditorium is named, served as professor of music for forty-six years, until his death. The Normal School's Conservatory of Music was established in 1881 and Pease also served as its first director, from 1882 to 1909. Professor Pease, a composer as well as teacher, was best known as the conductor of the Normal Chorus, whose concerts were enjoyed by the Normal School community and Ypsilanti public alike. Frederick Alexander became music director in 1909, following Pease's death, and served for thirty-two years. Under his direction the Normal Chorus continued to grow in stature, sometimes performing with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and the popular Men's University Glee Club was established. Pease Auditorium, constructed in 1914-15 as part of a major campus building program, became the home of the Conservatory of Music and the center of musical culture in Ypsilanti. The new structure, first used on April 20, 1915 and dedicated the following June, contained what was then the school's and city's principal auditorium as well as fifteen classrooms for the Conservatory. In addition to chorus and glee club events and recitals, the auditorium played host to the Detroit symphony and to popular bands, such as those of John Philip Sousa and Paul Whiteman. The building continues in regular use today, though it is no longer the largest auditorium in town. Pease Auditorium was designed by Smith, Hinchman & Grylls of Detroit, one of Michigan's most important twentieth-century, architectural firms. H. J. Maxwell Grylls was the managing architect of the $150,000 project. With its lavish terra cotta Neo-Classical facade, Pease Auditorium is the landmark of the Neo-Classical Revival in Ypsilanti. Harvey C. Colburn in his 1923 book, The Story of Ypsilanti, called the structure 'the most impressive piece of architecture in the city.' The auditorium originally seated 1,700 persons, but the capacity was reduced by 100 when a major alteration in 1959 extended the stage over the former orchestra pit and eliminated the first two rows of seats. The primary purpose of the change was to accommodate an eighty-four rank pipe organ, dedicated in honor of Frederick Alexander, who died in 1955, leaving $90,000 in his will for its purchase. The organ was designed by Prof. Erich P. Goldschmidt and constructed by the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Co. of Boston. The Frederick Alexander Memorial Organ was dedicated October 16, 1960. Swanson Associates of Bloomfield Hills was the architect for the renovation.

Pease Auditorium is a broad-fronted, end-gable-roof, red brick, Neo-Classical Revival structure with cream-color terra cotta detailing, including the main cornice and water table and the facade's columns and pilasters and their capitals, entablature, and door and window surrounds. It is a rectangular structure with projecting wings on each side. The main auditorium portion is roofed by a gable facing the street, while the extensions to sides, front, and rear, are flat-roofed. The west (front) elevation is symmetrically divided into five bays by pilasters and engaged columns of the Corinthian order. The three center bays each contain paired entry doors. Above these are segmental-arch window openings. The columns and pilasters support a deep frieze with dentilled cornice which runs across the building front and returns part way down each side. The remaining elevations of the building are generally unornamented except for simple pilasters which divide the walls into panels. These elevations have terra cotta bases and cornice bands. The interior, little altered over the years, contains three floors. The auditorium itself, located on the main floor behind a broad and shallow lobby, is Neo-Classical Revival in style. It has a sloping floor and a high, coffered ceiling which arches between the side walls. A balcony at the entrance end has a curving front that is supported beneath by square piers with Ionic capitals. The stage area has a semi-circular-front stage and broad, recessed, half-spherical, paneled, rear wall. At the back of the stage is the Alexander Memorial Organ. The auditorium originally seated 1700 persons, but the capacity was reduced by 100 in 1959 when the stage was extended over the former orchestra pit area and the first two rows of seats were eliminated. The basement contains a classroom, restrooms, and a green room. The second-floor area in front above the lobby and the projecting wings on either side contain classrooms, offices, and balcony entrances.