SAN ANTONIO – The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts opened Thursday in the heart of downtown with a dedication ceremony in the morning and a combined performance by the San Antonio Symphony, Opera San Antonio and Ballet San Antonio that evening.
The opening of the new facility culminates a nearly seven-year process that re-purposed the city’s downtown Municipal Auditorium into a new home for San Antonio’s performing arts groups. The Tobin Center, located on San Antonio’s River Walk, features three performance venues – the 1,750-seat H-E-B Performance Hall, the 250-seat Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater and the outdoor River Walk Plaza, which seats 600. Guests can arrive in the traditional way by car or by water taxi at The Tobin’s “second front door” on the River Walk.
Designed by LMN Architects of Seattle in partnership with San Antonio architectural firm Marmon Mok, The Tobin Center combines the historic façade of the old auditorium with a landmark design that completely covers the new building with a metallic, LED-lit “veil” – known as the AT&T Sky Wall. That design has created a unique structure that adds another spark for the city’s downtown renaissance.
The new facility is named in honor of the late San Antonio arts patron and philanthropist Robert L. B. Tobin.