Covey Center design elegant, functional
Even the interior design came together piece by piece, said Kathryn Allen, community outreach program coordinator and art gallery director.
"My responsibility was to make the building work," she said.
The Covey Center for the Arts, named for Sandra Covey, wife of motivational speaker, author and businessman Stephen R. Covey, was from the outset to become an elegant expression for the display of not only the performing arts — with its ample stage, orchestra pit, 75-foot-high fly tower and dance studio — but also for the visual arts.
As the building transformed in an $8.5 million remodeling, plans were changed as new ideas came into focus, Allen said. A solid wall separating the administration offices and boardroom on the upper floor became glass as Allen and others on the Provo Arts Council decided to let in more natural light.
Broad windows in each of the offices bring in light that passes through transom windows to brighten the work area and much of the upper floor.
Can lights also brighten the work area in the administration offices, but fluorescent lights are above every matching desk in the offices per city code. Because the expansive windows look out onto snow-covered trees in the winter and cherry blossoms in the spring, Allen says she rarely uses them.
Other offices are for Danae Friel, marketing; Hayley Roggia, scheduling; and Paul Deurden, general manager.
Even the boardroom has windows to light the space.
"We feel it's the nicest boardroom in the city offices," Allen said.
Elegance continues into the kitchen and public restrooms, where cherry wood kitchen cabinets and hardwood floors soften the design. In lavatories, charcoal tile covers the wall 7 feet up, while transom windows under a 10-foot ceiling bring in Mount Timpanogos on a clear day. The classic tile floor is reminiscent of New York restrooms.
"The community expected a classy center for the arts," Allen said.
Among the many donations that went into the center is a large chandelier that hangs over the grand entry. Douglas and Marion Smoot donated $32,000 to purchase the fixture. It's suspended on a heavy, brushed chain with a winch hidden above to raise and lower it for cleaning and to replace the bulbs.
A curved staircase ascending to the second level with glass and polished handrail encircles the chandelier from below.
The first architectural renderings for the front of the facility were "extremely unattractive," Allen said. "They didn't live up to the standard for a center for the arts."
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