Merrill Auditorium, the 1,908-seat hall tucked into the eastern section of Portland City Hall, opens up in front of you. Once called Portland City Hall Auditorium when it was built in 1912, this is the room that generations of Portlanders have come to for orchestras, ballets and big civic moments. In the 1990s the building took on the Merrill name after a bequest from Paul and Virginia Merrill made a renovation possible; the auditorium itself went through a major rebuild and renovation in 1997.
Inside, the stage is framed by a large pipe organ — the Hermann Kotzschmar Memorial Organ — donated by Cyrus Curtis and built by the Austin Organ Company (Opus 323). Today Merrill is home to an energetic mix of music and dance: prime tenants include the Portland Symphony Orchestra, Portland Ovations and the Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ, with resident companies such as the Maine State Ballet, Portland Ballet and Opera Maine bringing the schedule to life. Picture the house full and the organ breathing beneath this ceiling, then notice the eastern face of City Hall that holds this storied auditorium.