DeBaun Auditorium receives historic preservation award
HOBOKEN, N.J. — Stevens Institute of Technology’s recently restored Grace E. and Kenneth W. DeBaun Auditorium has received one of the New Jersey Office of Historic Preservation’s top awards for historic preservation. The award acknowledges the restoration as a significant contribution to the state’s historic resources.The Debaun Auditorium restoration, completed in 1998, returned the centerpiece of Stevens’ Edwin A. Stevens Hall to its former Victorian glory. Edwin A. Stevens Hall is the institute’s original academic building, designed in 1871 by Richard Upjohn, famous for the design of Trinity Church in New York City.
Representatives from Stevens as well as the architectural and contracting firms responsible for the DeBaun Auditorium renovation were on hand for the Jersey Office of Historic Preservation’s 10th anniversary awards ceremony this spring in Trenton.
The auditorium’s nearly $2.2 million restoration included the removal of all non-original construction and repair, and restoration of damaged and missing details. All of the original wood trusses as well as the rest of the auditorium were painted in Victorian era colors. In addition to the restoration, state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment, a new proscenium, new stage rigging and lighting, updated seating for nearly 500 patrons and handicap accessibility accommodations were installed.
The state award was presented to Stevens Institute of Technology; Gerald Gurland FAIA Architect of West Orange, N.J.; Dean Marchetto AIA & Associates Architects of Hoboken, N.J.; Del-Sano Contracting Corporation of Newark, N.J.; and Grace E. and Kenneth W. DeBaun, of Santa Rosa, Calif., the benefactors for whom the auditorium is named. John Maso, senior facilities manager for Stevens’ Physical Plant and an instrumental partner in the renovation, accepted the award for Stevens.
DeBaun Auditorium is located on the 55-acre campus of Stevens Institute of Technology, located in Hoboken, a short walk north of the PATH/NJ Transit Station. For more information on the history, current productions, and ticket information for the DeBaun Auditorium, please visit www.debaun.org (see "facilities" at this web site for views of the renovated auditorium) or call David Zimmerman, managing director, at (201) 216-8960.
Today DeBaun Auditorium presents a variety of music and theater programs year-round, along with seminars and cultural programs. It also serves as a cultural center by providing theatrical development programs. For example, Shakespearean acting techniques and modern playwriting seminars are currently offered.
About Stevens Institute of Technology
Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.
Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.
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