The Long Center for Performing Arts in Austin

Address: 701 W. Riverside Drive
Phone: 512.457.5100
Website: www.thelongcenter.org

Austin’s Long Center really was a long time coming. In 1998, locals voted to allow the Arts Center Stage, a nonprofit, to lease the old Palmer Auditorium (built in the 1950s) and renovate it into a major performing arts center for the community. The project received major funding from Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long in 1999.

Fundraising efforts and construction plans took many years to complete. The deconstruction of the Palmer Auditorium started in May 2005, and by that November, construction for the Long Center began. The highly anticipated grand opening was on March 28, 2008.

The Long Center has several performance spaces within it. The main venue is the stunning 2,400-seat Michael and Susan Dell Hall, which features performances from the Austin Symphony, Austin Lyric Opera, and other major performance groups.

The Debra and Kevin Rollins Studio Theatre is a smaller venue with flexible design, and depending on the arrangement, holds 80 to 226 seats. It is primarily used by community arts groups and regional artists.

There are future plans to add on an intermediate-sized theater, Topfer Family Theatre, and a Recital and Education Building, which will hold rehearsal space.

Because Austin is such an environmentally friendly city, the building of the Long Center utilized sustainability and environmentally friendly efforts.

Builders recycled 95 percent of the material from the Palmer Auditorium and reused it in the creation of the Long Center. Much of the recycled materials were reused in the Long Center's fixtures and finishes. The glass panels that honor donors used to be an exterior curtain wall at the Palmer Auditorium, and the exterior finish of the Dell Hall were once aluminum panels on the Palmer roof.

Incredible work went into designing the Dell Hall and Rollins Theater with unbeatable acoustics, so there really is no bad seat in the house when it comes to sound.

The venue has a sweeping outdoor terrace with towering pillars and arches. It overlooks Auditorium Shores, the lake, and the downtown skyline, making it a wonderful place to spend intermission.

One of the greatest perks of the Long Center is its location. It is down the street from Barton Springs’ Restaurant Row, very near South Congress, and around the corner from downtown. Your choices for dining out before or after a show are endless.

The Long Center has its own enormous parking garage right next to the venue, so you won't have to worry about finding street parking. However, the line to get into the garage can be long, so be sure to arrive early. Parking usually costs $7.