Ruth Eckerd Hall
Ruth Eckerd Hall is hard to miss. The facility, which was designed by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, broke ground in December 1979 as the Richard B. Baumgardner Center for the Performing Arts. The 2,180 seat auditorium was dedicated as Ruth Eckerd Hall on October 15, 1983. The venue has grown into an industry-renowned performing arts venue with robust programming for the Tampa Bay community.
In addition to the OG auditorium, Ruth Eckerd Hall manages and operates one of Florida’s oldest operating theaters, The Nancy and David Billheimer Capitol Theatre, which was constructed in 1921; the modern iteration of Coachman Park’s 1957 band shell, The BayCare Sound (The Sound) concert venue; and the Murray Theatre, a black box space located inside Ruth Eckerd Hall’s Marcia P. Hoffman School of the Arts, which opened in 2003. Ruth Eckerd Hall On The Road is the producing arm of the organization, presenting off-site events in partnership with The Tampa Theatre, The Palladium Theatre, and Coachman Park. IA Stage has worked with Ruth Eckerd Hall, the venue and the organization, for several years now. The most recent project weas at Ruth Eckerd Hall itself.
IA Stage recently installed a seating wagon in Ruth Eckerd Hall’s auditorium. In the theater world, a wagon, which is simply a moveable platform equipped with heavy-duty casters, is normally associated with moving scenery onstage. The concept is exactly the same here, but rather than moving scenery, this wagon holds and moves the first three rows of Ruth Edkerd Hall’s audience seating. 
The seating wagon was built to specifications using steel tube framing; 2 layers of ¾” plywood with acoustical insulation beneath for the wagon’s deck; 4 pneumatic lift triple swivel casters with 880lb weight capacity for each of the 7 sections that make up the wagon frame; a 5” diameter x 32” long spun aluminum air tank to inflate and deflate the lift bladder for the casters; and ¾” leveling feet for when the wagon is landed in position. Pockets were included around perimeter of three sides of the wagon so the venue could continue to use its existing handrails.
The seating wagon provides flexibility for this proscenium house with continental-seating in that the three rows of seats closest to the stage can be removed and stored beneath the stage. This allows the empty area where the seating bank was to easily transform into the orchestra pit, beautifully accommodating the wide range of performances the hall hosts each year.
Check out all this incredible venue has to offer here