Chautauqua Auditorium in Colorado preparing for its biggest transformation in generations

For 50 years, the Colorado Music Festival has filled Boulder's historic Chautauqua Auditorium with music every summer, bringing together musicians and audiences from around the world.

For violinists Viviana and Peter Wilson, it also brought them together.

"The city of Boulder and also this orchestra is like our summer home, our summer family," Viviana Wilson said.

The couple has spent years performing inside the more than century-old auditorium, which they say is unlike any other venue they play.

"It's one of the best halls we get to play in acoustically, and also like there's a real connection with the audience that we feel here," Peter Wilson said.

Now, after decades as a seasonal venue, Chautauqua Auditorium is preparing for what leaders say is its biggest transformation in generations.

Construction is underway on a $17 million renovation project that will allow the historic auditorium to host programming throughout the winter for the first time. The upgrades come as Boulder prepares to welcome the Sundance Film Festival in January, with organizers planning to use the venue as part of the festival.

The renovation is expected to add roughly 200 days of winter programming each year.

"I'm just so happy that we can more than double the opportunities," said Shelly Benford, CEO of Colorado Chautauqua.

Benford is leading the nonprofit's effort to modernize the historic building while preserving its character. Work includes adding insulation and a heating system that will make the building usable during Colorado's coldest months.

"All of the additional insulation we put in, radiant tubing in the floor, a whole geothermal system that we're putting in to heat this place in the winter, and all the ADA improvements that we're making," Benford said.

The nonprofit has already begun construction but is still working to raise the final $7 million needed to complete the project. Benford hopes the international attention surrounding Sundance will also attract new donors.

"We decided to take the leap this past year, and part of that was just it was time, and part of it was Sundance came through and decided that this would make an unbelievable venue for what they're doing," she said.

The renovations will also repair cracks in the auditorium's iconic wooden walls while maintaining the building's historic character.

"It like holds the memories of the people that have been in here," Benford said.

She hopes the investment will preserve the venue for generations to come.

"This feels like it's going to be here for another century, and that feels good," she said.

While music continues to fill the auditorium throughout the summer season, crews are racing to complete construction before the Sundance Film Festival arrives in January, marking the beginning of a new chapter for one of Boulder's most historic performance venues.