Henry Crown Symphony Hall, Jerusalem Theatre

The Henry Crown Concert Hall forms part of the Jerusalem Theatre's second wing, completed in February 1986. Supported by the Crown family of Chicago, the Jerusalem Foundation and public funding, the extension added concert and theatre spaces to the original Sherover auditorium, which had opened in 1971. The Henry Crown Hall became the home of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. It belongs to a larger performing-arts complex whose architecture combines stone and concrete, with sculptural works by Yehiel Shemi integrated into the public spaces. The Jerusalem Theatre building was listed for preservation in 2012. The Henry Crown Symphony Hall seats 750 and is the home of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. It is one of four auditoriums in the Jerusalem Theatre complex in Talbiya, whose design competition was won in 1958 by the architects Michael Nadler, Shulamit Nadler and Shmuel Bixson; the cornerstone was laid in October 1964 and the building dedicated only in October 1971, after budget disputes and predictions of a white elephant. Lester Crown's gift, redirected from a stadium never built, paid for it.