Billionaire Koch Donates $100 Million to New York State Theater
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Billionaire David Koch will donate $100 million toward the renovation of the New York State Theater, transforming the 1964 building into the David H. Koch Theater, the New York Times reported on its Web site last night.
Mr. Koch’s gift, which covers half of the theater’s $200 million capital campaign to renovate the space, will be the largest private capital donation in the history of Lincoln Center. The gift will be spread over a 10-year period: In the first year, Mr. Koch will donate $15 million. He will then contribute $10 million for the next eight years, and $5 million in the final year, the newspaper reported.
Mr. Koch, the executive vice president of Koch Industries, which owns brands including Lycra spandex and Dixie cups, has an estimated net worth of $17 billion.
Mr. Koch, 68, told the Times he had regularly gone to the theater for 40 years and felt that its performances were “world class” and deserving of his gift.
Mr. Koch’s announcement comes just four months after the announcement by another billionaire, Steven Schwartzman, of his $100 million gift to the New York Public Library in exchange for the naming rights of its main building.
The New York State Legislature approved a name change for the theater in April.
The theater is home to the New York City Ballet and the New York City Opera. It will close for renovations during the City Opera’s 2008-09 season — with an exception for NYCB’s annual “Nutcracker” performances — and is projected to reopen in the fall of 2009.
This first phase of renovations is expected to cost $50 million. It includes new carpets and seats, a larger orchestra pit, a new stage lighting system, and new audiovisual equipment. The architectural firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro has been hired to complete the theater’s renovations, as well as the overall renovation of the Lincoln Center complex.
The proposed second phase, which has yet to be fully financed, would allow for renovations of the theater’s lobby and dressing rooms, as well as other spaces.
The theater’s original design, by Philip Johnson, will be preserved.
