PASADENA, California (AP) World famous Architect Frank Gehry is lending his vaunted design expertise free of charge for a makeover and expansion of the Pasadena Playhouse.
Gehry designed the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain and the metal-clad Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, among other well-known structures.
He will tackle a two-phase design project that includes a redesign of the interior of the Playhouse’s existing balcony performance space and the construction of a theater across the street.
Work on the Playhouse was expected to begin within a year.
No timeline had yet been set for fundraising or construction of the new theater, which will seat between 300 and 400. It will be named in memory of Carrie Hamilton, who died of cancer in 2002 at age 38.
Hamilton was the daughter of Actress Carol Burnett and the late Producer Joe Hamilton.
Gehry opted to do the project pro bono because he is a longtime friend of Burnett’s.
