PHOTO BY JOSHUA FRANZOS

There are 1,530 new, custom-designed seats. Aisles have been resloped and widened. Nearly 1,180 fleur de lis stencils have been reapplied. Decorative gold-leaf panels have been replastered, repainted and cleaned. And perhaps the most welcome improvement of all – there’s now air-conditioning.

These are among improvements made in an eight-month renovation of the 129-year-old Carnegie Music Hall, which reopened Friday to great fanfare. The project cost $9 million.

The renovated space in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History goes into action immediately, with a Carnegie Mellon University performance scheduled Sunday and a Pittsburgh Arts & Lecture appearance on Monday by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder.

PHOTO BY JOSHUA FRANZOS

Andrew Carnegie welcomed 2,000 people into this hall on Nov, 15, 1895 upon the dedication of the Carnegie Museums and Library building. His goal was to make the space the center of musical culture in Pittsburgh, and indeed the stage has hosted such greats as Luciano Pavoratti, Ella Fitzgerald, Arlo Guthrie, David Byrne, Norah Jones and Harry Bellefonte.

“We undertook this project because the time had come to make this beautiful space accessible to all with custom-sized seats, a new sound system, new lighting and aisles at the proper slope and width to meet the current building standards and ADA specifications,” said Steven Knapp, president and CEO of the Carnegie Museums at the opening the ceremony.

Among the dignitaries speaking, Pittsburgh City Councilmember Erika Strassburger said the renovations will help enhance the humanities and cultural corridor that is developing in that section of Oakland along with CMU’s R.K. Mellon Hall of Sciences to be built next to the Carnegie Museum of Art.

PHOTO BY JOSHUA FRANZOS

The hall originally seated 2,000 people, but the smaller seats were uncomfortable, legroom was squeezed and they were not accommodating to guests with disabilities. In addition to drawing support from the state, foundations and other agencies for the renovations, the Carnegie has launched a Take Your Seat campaign, in which people can provide a gift of $600 to $3,000 to put their name — or the name of someone they want to honor — on a seat of their choosing.

The project was managed by historic preservation specialists Volpatt Construction. Work included restoring the grand proscenium arch and preserving the murals throughout the hall, with architectural design by Gensler and engineering by CJL.