Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
Supported by a $75 million “Setting the Stages” campaign, the project begins with a complete
renovation of the Pavilion, 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 2025, 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 transformed venue will be renamed the Hunter Pavilion, honoring Maxine and Thomas B. Hunter III, in recognition of a leadership gift of $10 million from the Hunter Family Foundation. The thoroughly renovated and redesigned back-of-house areas serving Ravinia’s artists will be named The Negaunee Foundation Artist Center in recognition of a major gift of $21 million from The Negaunee Foundation.
Supported by a $75 million “Setting the Stages” campaign, the project begins with a complete
renovation of the Pavilion, 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 2025, 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 transformed venue will be renamed the Hunter Pavilion, honoring Maxine and Thomas B. Hunter III, in recognition of a leadership gift of $10 million from the Hunter Family Foundation. The thoroughly renovated and redesigned back-of-house areas serving Ravinia’s artists will be named The Negaunee Foundation Artist Center in recognition of a major gift of $21 million from The Negaunee Foundation.
