The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is booting the cheesy plastic shrubs and clunky picnic tables on its entry plaza in favor of green grass, new lighting and loudspeakers, a concert stage and an outdoor cafe. And smack in the center of the center of the Rock Hall’s circular plaza will be a row of 6-foot-high letters in red metal spelling out “Long Live Rock.”
Designed by BRC Imagination Arts of Burbank CA, the remake of the Rock Hall’s plaza is intended to broadcast rock ‘n’ roll’s raucous side at the doorstep of the museum’s elegant modernist building, designed by architect IM Pei. “This is not a pristine art form,” said Todd Mesek, the Rock Hall’s VP of marketing and communications. “It’s bold, challenging, rebellious. In some ways, you want the building to rebel against itself to be true to its art form and not an ivory tower.” The project is part of the $3 million-$4.5 million first phase of what the Rock Hall calls “Museum 2.0,” a redesign that will eventually encompass revisions of its Hall of Fame and main exhibit areas.
