Gaillard Municipal Auditorium

For more than forty years Charleston's largest stage was the municipal auditorium opened in July 1968 and named for J. Palmer Gaillard Jr, mayor of the city from 1959 to 1975. Spoleto Festival USA used it from its first season in 1977, the Charleston Symphony from the early 1980s, and its 2,750-seat music hall took in most of what came to town. Between 2012 and 2015 the building was rebuilt, the cost divided between the city and private donors; the Charleston Gaillard Center that emerged keeps the name and holds the 1,818-seat Martha and John M. Rivers Performance Hall, with an exhibition hall and a park beside it.