Comcast Circle Dedication Celebrates Communication Giant’s Gift While Kimmel Center Construction Reaches New Heights
July 2, 2001
In celebration of The Comcast Family of Companies’ $2 million gift in support of The Campaign to Build The Kimmel Center, the Regional Performing Arts Center (RPAC) dedicated Comcast Circle - the Center’s exquisite entertainment suite - in the companies’ honor. Featuring a curving pear-wood wall and a spectacular 98-foot expanse of windows overlooking the University of the Arts, Comcast Circle will be a distinctive setting for private dinners, receptions, and other business and social events. The dedication coincided with The Kimmel Center’s ‘topping off,’ a ceremony marking the placement of the future landmark’s final piece of structural steel - which, in keeping with building tradition, was festooned with an American flag and evergreen tree before being hoisted to the top of the Center’s vaulted glass roof.
To honor the workers whose dedication made the occasion possible, and in celebration of the $2 million gift, The Comcast Family of Companies - represented by Comcast Cable President Stephen B. Burke - joined RPAC President Leslie Anne Miller and Jack Donnelly, President and CEO of Kimmel Center construction manager L. F. Driscoll Company (in partnership with Artis T. Ore), in hosting a "Thank You Lunch" for the glass, steel, and other construction workers in the newly dedicated Comcast Circle.
"Comcast is synonymous with entertainment and communication, so we’re especially happy to dedicate a festive spot in the community’s new performing arts center for one of our most important and civic-minded companies", said Ms. Miller.
Comcast President Brian L. Roberts noted, "A vibrant city has many ingredients, including entertainment, arts and sports, and Comcast and RPAC share the belief that the arts and entertainment strengthen our community. We're proud to be able to place our name on the premier entertainment and hospitality space in this new showcase for performing arts in the Philadelphia region."
Comcast Corporation (www.comcast.com) is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable networks, and in the provision of electronic commerce and programming content. Comcast Cable is the third largest cable company in the United States and, incorporating pending cable transactions, will serve more than 8.4 million subscribers. Comcast’s commerce and content businesses include majority ownership of QVC, Comcast-Spectacor, Comcast SportsNet, and The Golf Channel, a controlling interest in E! Networks, and other programming investments.
Opening in December 2001, the 450,000-square-foot Kimmel Center is located at Broad and Spruce Streets along Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts. Designed by internationally acclaimed architect Rafael Viñoly, The Kimmel Center joins the historic Academy of Music to become one of the nation’s largest performing arts complexes. The Kimmel Center features 2,500-seat Verizon Hall, a state-of-the-art concert hall with acoustics designed by Russell Johnson of Artec Consultants for The Philadelphia Orchestra, and 650-seat Perelman Theater. The Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music will be home to eight of Philadelphia’s premier ensembles: The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Ballet, American Theater Arts for Youth, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, PHILADANCO, The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Peter Nero and the Philly Pops®.
"Like groundbreaking and ribbon-cutting, ‘topping off’ is a traditional celebratory moment in the history of a building project", said Kimmel Center Project Manager George Shaeffer. "This puts us on the home stretch to completion."
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