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Preview of SSU's Green Center
Telecom leaders called on to donate during tour of music complex
Don Green. Founder of Optilink Corp. in Petaluma urged beneficiaries of the telecom boom to give back to the community.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
By LORI A. CARTER
ROHNERT PARK -- Retired and current Telecom Valley pioneers reunited Saturday to reconnect with old colleagues and encourage fund-raising for Sonoma State University's Green Music Center Innovation Hall.
When finished, the main concert hall's lobby will have a permanent interactive display illustrating the history of Telecom Valley and the entrepreneurial spirit that created Sonoma County's high-tech launch pad.
Don Green, who in 1987 founded Optilink Corp. of Petaluma and is considered the "Father of Telecom Valley," also leads the drive to complete the $100 million music complex on the north side of SSU's campus.
He and his wife, Maureen, kick-started the fund-raising with a $10 million donation 10 years ago. On Saturday, Green encouraged other beneficiaries of the telecom boom to also give back to the community with bequests to the music center that bears his name.
Jeff Langley, the artistic director of SSU's performing arts department, said that "Don Green was one of the major players who made this happen, along with some from the newer generations."
"A lot of them have never seen the project or the university. This is an opportunity to come and see this wonderful project," he said.
The center is within $12.5 million of being fully funded. Half of the complex's total cost is being paid for by state money.
Construction on the 56-acre project is expected to be mostly completed next year, with an opening in 2009 or 2010, depending on how quickly the university can raise the final $12.5 million for flooring, performers' rooms, equipment rooms and interior furnishings.
On Saturday, telecom innovators and others toured the construction site, walking over plywood bridges and between massive steel girders while envisioning the final product.
The main 1,400-seat concert hall was designed after Ozawa Hall at the famed Tanglewood music complex in Lenox, Mass., though it has some innovations of its own. Concert-goers will enter the hall from the side instead of the rear, massive doors in the back open to allow another 3,000 patrons on a lawn to hear, and staggered-width seats will prevent patrons' views from being blocked by big heads or big hairdos.
The "Schroeder's Recital Hall," named after the "Peanuts" cartoon pianist, will have room for 250 seats for more intimate performances.
Nearby, a restaurant similar to ones in "high-end museums" will seat 100 inside and another 200 outdoors, said Kristin Berger, a tour guide and one of the project's fund-raising directors.
The education wing will have classrooms for 115 students, performance spaces and faculty offices.
Another area for as many as another 10,000 patrons is planned to the east of the main hall.
"This is a phenomenal space," said Mike Davis, a software engineer for Cerent, which is now Cisco Systems.
Lured to Sonoma County nine years ago for the telecom job, Davis said he enjoyed seeing the Eagles rock group play at SSU two years ago and is looking forward to more high-quality musical performances there.
"I can imagine 14,000 people here," he said. "This is just beautiful."
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