Spoleto Festival USA Chairwoman Martha Rivers Ingram says Charleston needs a world-class performance hall. Otherwise, the community might miss out on some of the arts it deserves.

There are people who will not buy tickets for the Spoleto Festival events of the future … because of the Gaillard Auditorium,” the Nashville billionaire told members of the Rotary Club of Charleston last week. “It’s fixable. It’s only a matter of determination and money – and we intend to find the money to go with the determination.”

Ingram, who grew up in Charleston and is sister to local businessman John Rivers Jr., hired a New York design firm to develop a transformational idea of what the Gaillard could become if it were renovated. The cost? About $80 million, less than half of what it would cost to tear down the 1960s auditorium and start from scratch. Other estimates are up to $105 for the change.

It’ll be worth it because the Gaillard isn’t optimally configured now and also isn’t that attractive, although Ingram said it in much nicer terms: “The sixties – it was a very challenging time in architecture.”

The plan at present, which still has to get approved by the city and pass muster of a public-private partnership to make it work, is for the exterior of the building to be recast as something that would fit in at the College of Charleston, just blocks away. (See inset drawing).

But the interior is where big changes would come. A cozier concert hall would be reconfigured with two center aisles, smaller balcony overhangs and a slightly smaller stage. A second floor would be added to the Exhibition Hall, which would double its floor space.

Ingram said Charleston Mayor Joe Riley is gangbusters about the project, which we’re told he sees as a signature for the twilight of his long career, particularly because of the associated economic impact a revitalized auditorium would bring to the downtown area. It doesn’t hurt that there’s already an anonymous gift of $20 million for the renovation.

Charleston Symphony Orchestra Music Director David Stahl says’ he’s excited about the possibilities for the auditorium, which could begin as early as 2011 depending on approvals and money.

“Are you kidding? Wow. It’s been a dream for 25 years,” Stahl said.

Let’s hope this dream becomes a reality so that the gem of Charleston is able to shine in new ways for the arts.

Andy Brack, publisher of CharlestonCurrents.com, can be reached at: publisher@charlestoncurrents.com. For more on what’s happening in Charleston, visit CharlestonCurrents.com.