Repository: UIHistories Project: Dedication - Smith Music Hall [PAGE 2]

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Smith Memorial Hall, occupied by the School of Music of the University of Illinois, is a fire-proof building of brick and stone in Italian Renaissance style. The erection of the building was made possible through the generous gift of Captain Thomas J. Smith, for six years a Trustee of the University. The area occupied is 126 by 163 feet, extending in height through a basement, two stories, and attic. The basement is occupied by plenum chambers, machinery* and dressing rooms. On the first door are the Director's suite, two class rooms, and seven studios, together with the first floor of the recital hall. The second floor contains the Memorial Room dedicated to the donor, Captain Thomas J. Smith, and his wife, Tina Wccdon Smith, to whom the building is dedicated as a memorial, and the Library, with a score trial room, and eleven studios. This floor also affords access to the balcony of the recital hall, which with the first floor gives a total seating capacity of about 1,100 persons. The third floor contains forty-seven practise rooms, and a lecture room seating about 100. All studios and practise rooms are thoroly sound-proofed and insulated from one another. Professor James McLaren White was the architect of the building, and Mr. George Cilery Wright the associate architect.