Ravinia to undergo $75 million renovation of whole venue
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- Every summer, Ravinia is bustling with people out to catch a show—whether rock, jazz, R&B, global music, or the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and whether seated in the Pavilion or enjoying a picnic with a bottle of wine on the leafy lawn.
But during these coldest days of February, the outdoor music venue in Highland Park is busy building up a new experience.
"We're not starting a winter festival yet, but we are starting construction on phase one of this massive renovation," said Ravinia president and chief executive officer Jeff Haydon.
The Ravinia Festival on Thursday revealed its plans for a $75 million renovation of its whole venue. The initial focus will be on the Pavilion.
Right now, work is mostly being done behind the scenes at the Pavilion at Ravinia. Performers who come to Ravinia will have new dressing rooms, warmup rooms, and loading docks.
"When the artists come backstage, they love coming to Ravinia and seeing it, but they also let us know that it'd like, it would be nice to have something that's just a little bit nicer backstage," said Haydon.
What will be renovated by the time this year's Ravinia season begins June 6 may not be noticeable to people who come to the concerts. It is more during the summer of 2026 that people will notice changes to the Pavilion, its acoustics, and its seats — which date back to the 1950s.
"We are going to have big, comfortable seats with drink holders," said Haydon. "That should be great."
The new Pavilion will also have a deeper stage for the orchestra and brand-new lighting.
"And a new sound system, which we test drove a little bit last year, and James Taylor gave his big thumbs up and says he wants to come back," Haydon said.
James Taylor will be appearing for the second year in a row at Ravinia on June 19.
Once completed, the Pavilion will be renamed the Hunter Pavilion — honoring Maxine and Thomas B. Hunter III for their gift of $10 million from the Hunter Family Foundation, Ravinia said. The back-of-house area of the Pavilion serving performers will be renamed the Negaunee Foundation Artist Center, for a $21 million gift from the Negaunee Foundation.
Lohan Architecture, the successor to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's studio, is designing the renovated pavilion, Ravinia said.
All the other areas of the Ravinia campus — including the Sandra K. Crown Theater, Bennett Gordon Hall, the Carousel Stage, and the historic Martin Theatre — will also be upgraded. Ravinia said the Sandra K. Crown Theatre will get a new concert stage; renovations and enhanced production capabilities will be brought to the Martin Theatre, which dates from 1904 and is the only original structure still standing at Ravinia.
The Carousel Stage will be replaced with a new outdoor performance stage.
Haydon said all the renovations may delay the 2026 season.
"We will start the summer of '26 a little bit later to accommodate for construction," he said.
But Haydon said there will be a full, albeit more condensed, lineup of artists ready to break in the new stage.
121 years of history at Ravinia
Ravinia opened in 1904, the same year as Chicago's most famous amusement park — Riverview Park in what is now known as Roscoe Village. As it happens, Ravinia — which has now outlasted Riverview by 57 years — was originally an amusement park too.
Ravinia was developed by the A.C. Frost Company to lure Chicagoans to ride the Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad — the predecessor to the Metra Union Pacific North line that still stops at Ravinia to this day.
The amusement park featured a music pavilion, a dance hall, a baseball stadium, a theater, and an electric swing, Ravinia noted. Appropriately for an amusement park, the first musical selection played at Ravinia was "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home" on a steam calliope.
But circus music gave way to more refined offerings over time. From 1919 to 1931, Ravinia was known as the summer opera capital of the world — with European opera masters making a trek west after performing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Ravinia closed for a few years during the Great Depression, but reopened in 1936 with a greater focus on classical music. That year, Ravinia hosted the first summer residency of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — a partnership that remains in effect.
The original Pavilion at Ravinia was destroyed by fire in May 1949. But a new stage and seating area were ready when the 1949 season started — made from a 33-ton canvas tent that was made to hangar B-12 bomber planes, Ravinia said.
Ravinia has hosted all manner of stars of every kind of music on its stage — including Louis Armstrong, Leonard Bernstein, Tony Bennett, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Ella Fitzgerald, George Gershwin, Janis Joplin, Yo-Yo Ma, Stevie Nicks, Diana Ross, Tina Turner. And Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, to name just a few.
Peter, Paul and Mary were regulars on the Pavilion stage at Ravinia for many years, most recently in 1996. Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" radio variety show also broadcast live from Ravinia annually until Keillor ended his run hosting the show in 2016.
Ravinia will announce the lineup for its 2025 season on Thursday, March 13. The season runs from June 6 to Aug. 31.
