Ravinia, North America’s longest-running outdoor music festival, has announced a $75 million multi-year renovation of its 36-acre park and venues in Highland Park.
The organization said beloved, iconic features of Ravinia — from the early-20th-century Prairie School architecture to the manicured lawn — will be “meticulously preserved for future generations” while a comprehensive upgrade is made to the venues for the festival’s 400,000 annual guests and more than 100 concerts each year.
The “sweeping, multiyear” renovation of its 36-acre park and venues will be supported by a $75 million campaign.
The project will begin with a complete renovation of the Pavilion, which is Ravinia’s largest venue.
The signature roof will remain intact while the Pavilion receives a new stage, seating and lighting, as well as enhanced acoustics and more robust production capabilities.
Construction is in two distinct phases. Infrastructure improvements are already underway and are expected to be finished before summer so that Ravinia can present its 2025 season from June 6 to August 31 before work resumes in the fall.
The second phase will be completed for the opening of Ravinia’s following season in July 2026.
Upon completion in 2026, the venue will be renamed the Hunter Pavilion, honoring Maxine and Thomas B. Hunter III, in recognition of a $10 million donation from the Hunter Family Foundation.
The renovated and redesigned back-of-house areas serving Ravinia’s artists will be named The Negaunee Foundation Artist Center in recognition of a $21 million donation from The Negaunee Foundation.
“Ravinia has always been a cherished part of my family’s story,” said Bill Hunter of the Hunter Family Foundation.
“Growing up, we often went there with my parents, Maxine and Thomas, my grandmother, and our extended family, sharing picnics under the canopy of trees, surrounded by beautiful music and nature. For us, Ravinia represents the perfect intersection of music, art, and nature—a place to relax, be inspired, and build community. This gift is about ensuring that future generations can enjoy that same magic,” Hunter said.
Lohan Architecture, the Chicago-based firm that succeeded Mies van der Rohe’s studio, is designing the Pavilion’s renovation.
All other areas of the campus, including the Sandra K. Crown Theater, historic Martin Theatre, Bennett Gordon Hall and the outdoor Carousel, are expected to be renewed and enhanced through the 2029 season when Ravinia will celebrate its 125th anniversary.
“For more than a century, Ravinia has been a cherished destination for generations of artists and audiences from our region and around the world. For many, the Pavilion is their first introduction to Ravinia, and it hosts a wide range of events, from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s annual residency and shows by legendary pop and jazz artists to performances by our Reach Teach Play students and alumni of our Steans Institute, who return as today’s stars,” Ravinia President and CEO Jeffrey P. Haydon said.
The organization said renovation of the Pavilion is “essential” to securing Ravinia’s future and is the first of “many exciting changes” to come in the park.
The renovations to the Hunter Pavilion will aim to enhance the production and presentation capabilities of the venue, including a deeper stage, a new acoustic shell for orchestral performances, a state-of-the-art audio system, a robust show lighting system, new lighting throughout the Pavilion, modernized production booths and a modern video production room as well as new audience seating with increased accessibility.
The Negaunee Foundation Artist Center will see improvements to the back-of-house with a more welcoming artists’ entrance, updated dressing rooms and artist areas, two new warm-up rooms for musicians, a warm-up room wired to double as a media production studio to support radio and TV broadcasts, renovated offices for the production department and stagehands, and an expanded loading area for more efficient show management.
Future phases of renovation will include the construction of a new concert stage for the Sandra K. Crown Theater, structural restoration and enhanced production capabilities of the historic Martin Theatre, a new outdoor performance stage to replace the modified Carousel Stage and a thorough updating of the production, aesthetics and audience areas of Bennett Gordon Hall.
Ravinia said it will announce its 2025 season, running from June 6 to August 31, on March 13.