Monthly Archives: July 2013

LEGO® My Music Hall
LEGO® scale-model replica of Music Hall on display
August 4, 5:00 – 8:00 PM;
August 5-9, 10:00 AM – 6:30 PM
Music Hall Foyer

CINCINNATI, OH – How many LEGO® does it take to build Music Hall? Bring your family and find out for yourself when a 1/50 scale-model LEGO® replica of Cincinnati’s iconic landmark goes on display in the Music Hall Foyer from August 4-9, 2013. Built and designed by local LEGO® enthusiast, Mark Clark, the model is 100 inches wide by 106 inches deep by 42 inches high. Clark constructed the model to replicate Music Hall as it existed in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The opening of the LEGO® Music Hall exhibit in the Music Hall Foyer is scheduled for Sunday, August 4 from 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM (prior to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s free Luminocity concert at Washington Park), at which guests can meet the model builder, Mark Clark. The exhibit will remain on display from Monday, August 5 – Friday, August 9 from 10:00 AM – 6:30 PM.

In addition to the model, the exhibit will include images of Mark’s construction process and a register-to-win opportunity for prizes and merchandise from Music Hall’s resident arts groups (Cincinnati Arts Association, Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Symphony/Pops Orchestras, May Festival, and the Society for the Preservation of Music Hall).

During the duration of the exhibit, Cincinnati Toys for Tots will have bins in the Music Hall Foyer to collect new, unwrapped toys from visitors. These toys will be given as holiday gifts in December to underprivileged children in the community.

The LEGO® Music Hall model includes the full building (Springer Auditorium and the North and South Halls), a turn-of-the-century chandelier, the Miami-Erie Canal behind the Hall (now Central Parkway) with a flatboat moving along the channel, a cobblestone Elm Street with horse-drawn buggies, and a few added surprises. The rear of the model will be open so visitors can look inside the Hall to see the stage, seats, and balconies.

“What I hope to achieve is to show the ‘original intent’ of Music Hall’s design, to illustrate what the building looked like after the first renovation, and to provide a view of what it could look like after a restoration,” said Mark. “I wanted to do a large-scale build of an iconic Cincinnati landmark, and for me, Music Hall is the most beautiful historical building in the City.”

”When Mark first called me, I wasn’t sure he was serious,” said Scott Santangelo, Music Hall Director of Operations. “Now that the model is completed, I’m both impressed and overwhelmed. Mark’s attention to detail is truly impressive. I’ve seen this sort of display in stores and at Walt Disney World, but to have Music Hall in miniature is amazing!”

LEGO® Music Hall Fun Facts 

• More than 100,000 LEGO® bricks.
•  More than 10,000 transparent blue “dots” that make up the Miami-Erie canal behind the building (this material is not included in the overall brick count).
• 310 windows using more than 1,350 individual clear panels.
• 960 seats in Springer Auditorium (with no spacing there would be more than 1,500).
• 7.5 month build time.
• Mark’s primary building material was a standard 2×4 brick which allowed him to purchase material in bulk from any LEGO® store. He also used standard 2×2, 1×4 palisade, 1×2 palisade (to get the textured mortar look), various types of arches, and a large quantity of inverted sloping brick to do all the roofline cornices.
• 90% of the building is standard materials and the remaining 10% was purchased from a collection of online LEGO® storefronts, such as BrickLink.com.
• The hardest part of the build was the large rose window and arch work above it.
• The base floor (Orchestra level) of Springer Auditorium weighs 18 pounds, as it is solid and not hollow.
• The only thing not original to the building is the Genius of Music statue, which was planned as part of Music Hall’s original design, but never implemented. This is Mark’s tribute to the original vision of the Hall. 

About Mark Clark
Born in Western Kentucky in 1967, Mark moved to Cincinnati in 1972, attended Princeton schools from grades K-12, and graduated in 1985. He attended The Ohio State University for three years, where he majored in aerospace engineering, and transferred back to the University of Cincinnati, where he finished his degree in computer systems engineering. Mark lives in Mason with his wife Mary and daughter Ashley, and has been involved in Cincinnati technology, consulting, and various start-ups since 1993. His love for the hobby of building with LEGO® was rekindled in 2012 with two LEGO®-kit Christmas gifts from his mother and his wife, and he has been hooked ever since. Mark joined a local LEGO® User’s Group (OKILUG: Ohio Kentucky Indiana LEGO® User’s Group) this past January to learn and share with other like-minded LEGO® enthusiasts and builders. Mark first discovered the magnificence of Music Hall at the age of six, when he attended Cincinnati Ballet’s The Nutcracker. 

Cincinnati Toys for Tots
The Cincinnati-area Toys for Tots organization distributes thousands of toys to area social service organizations and families throughout the Tri-state. This year, the Marine Corps Reserve will collaborate with the Salvation Army for the toy collection and distribution campaign. These two organizations have over 200 years of history serving needy children. The Salvation Army will handle the individual family registration and distribution process for the Tri-state Toys for Tots. The Marine Corps will still conduct the Toys for Tots Campaign as in previous years and handle all organizational registration. This partnership will allow an expanded service to a greater number of children in the Tri-state.

For more information about the LEGO® Music Hall exhibit, call (513) 744-3344.