TEXT A Carnegie Hall, the famous
concert hall in New York City, has again undergone a restoration. While this is
not the first, it is certainly the most extensive in the building’s history. As
a result of this restoration, Carnegie Hall once again has the quality of sound
that it had when it was first built. Carnegie Hall owes its
existence to Andrew Carnegie, the wealthy owner of a steel company in the late
1800s. The hall was finished in 1891 and quickly gained a reputation as an
excellent performing arts hall where accomplished musicians gained fame. Despite
its reputation, however, the concert hall suffered from several detrimental
renovations over the years. During the Great Depression, when fewer people could
afford to attend performances, the directors sold part of the building to
commercial businesses. As a result, a coffee shop was opened in one comer of the
building, for which the builders replaced the brick and terra cotta walls with
windowpanes. A renovation in 1946 seriously damaged the acoustical quality of
the hall when the makers of the film Carnegie Hall cut a gaping hole in the dome
of the ceiling to allow for lights and air vents. The hole was later covered
with short Curtains and a fake ceiling, but the hall never sounded the same
afterwards. In 1960, the violinist Isaac Stem became involved in
restoring the hall after a group of real estate developers unveiled plans to
demolish Carnegie Hall and build a high-rise office building on the site, This
threat spurred Stern to rally public support for Carnegie Hall and encourage the
City of New York to buy the property. The movement was successful, and the
concert hall is now owned by the city. In the current restoration, builders
tested each new material for its sound qualities, and they replaced the hole in
the ceiling with a dome. The builders also restored the outer walls to their
original appearance and closed the coffee shop. Carnegie has never sounded
better, and its prospects for the future have never looked more
promising. What was probably the most important aspect of the recent renovation
A.Restoring the outer wall. B.Expanding the lobby. C.Restoring the plaster trim. D.Repairing the ceiling.