Ruth Eckerd Hall
A Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation design with acoustics artists fly in to hear
Upcoming Live Music (1)
Sun, Aug 237:30 PM Buddy GuyAbout Ruth Eckerd Hall
In November 1977, June Baumgardner Gelbart gave the City of Clearwater 38 acres on one condition: it had to become a performing arts center. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation designed and directed the build, at a cost of $14.5 million, and Ruth Eckerd Hall was dedicated on October 15, 1983.
The room seats 2,180 in continental style, with no center aisle, and the thing everyone talks about is the sound. The acoustics have drawn praise from performers, engineers and audiences since opening night, and since 2005 Pollstar has consistently ranked it among the top five theatres in the world at 2,500 seats or under.
Forty-plus years in, the hall has presented more than 3,500 performances. Successive renovations added the Dimmitt Family Atrium, the Murray Theatre, the Margarete Heye Great Room, a three-story glass Grand Lobby, and the England Family Music Garden — an outdoor performance space by the east entrance that opened in December 2021.
It anchors a whole family of Clearwater rooms, including the Nancy and David Bilheimer Capitol Theatre downtown and the outdoor BayCare Sound on Drew Street. If you're chasing a legacy act on a theatre tour through Tampa Bay, odds are good this is where they land.
Only Here
- Designed and built under the direction of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation for $14.5 million
- 2,180 continental-style seats with no center aisle
- Ranked a top-five theatre worldwide (under 2,500 seats) by Pollstar every year since 2005
- The land was donated in 1977 on the condition it be used for a performing arts center
- The first performance, on October 15, 1983, was the Suzuki Children of Japan
- More than 3,500 performances staged across its first four decades
Plan Your Night
1111 McMullen Booth Rd, Clearwater, FL 33759