| Mabel Shaw Bridges Hall of Music | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Alternative names | Little Bridges |
| General information | |
| Type | Concert hall |
| Architectural style | Spanish Renaissance[1] |
| Address | 150 E. 4th St. |
| Town or city | Claremont, California |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 34°05′50″N 117°42′50″W / 34.09722°N 117.71389°W |
| Named for | Mabel Shaw Bridges |
| Opened | 1915[1] |
| Renovated | 1971[1] 1999–2000[2] |
| Owner | Pomona College |
| Height | 17.2 m (56 ft)[citation needed] |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Stucco[3] |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Myron Hunt[4] |
| Other information | |
| Seating capacity | 550[5] |
| Public transit access | Claremont  |
| Website | |
| pomona | |
The Mabel Shaw Bridges Hall of Music, more commonly known as Little Bridges (to distinguish it from nearby Bridges Auditorium, known as Big Bridges), is a concert hall at Pomona College in Claremont, California, designed by Myron Hunt and opened in 1915. It was sponsored by a $100,000 gift (equivalent to $2.89 million in 2022) from the parents of Mabel Shaw Bridges, a student in Pomona's class of 1908 who died of illness her junior year.[6] It is used for a variety of musical and non-musical purposes, and is considered the "architectural gem" of Pomona's campus and one of Hunt's finest works.[7]
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The hall was designed as the primary anchor point for the south side of Marston Quadrangle in Hunt's Master Plan for the Pomona campus.[3]
In its early history, it was the premier destination of choice for prominent visitors to Southern California.[8]
The hall was closed in 1969 following the discovery of structural defects,[9] and fears that it would be demolished prompted a successful fundraising campaign that enabled a renovation, including a seismic retrofitting,[3] beginning in 1971.[10] It was renovated again three decades later, reopening in fall 2000.[2]
Pomona's 2015 master plan identifies Little Bridges as one of five "architecturally distinguished buildings with historic stature",[11] and a 2015 environmental impact report from the college identifies it as eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places,[12] although as of 2020[update] the college has not yet applied for it to be listed. John Neiuber, writing for the Claremont Courier in 2017, expressed surprise it is not listed.[13]
The building takes the form of a basilica, and is built in a modified Spanish Renaissance style, incorporating a number of influences.[1][14]
It is split into two halves. The northern half contains the concert hall, featuring a heavy wood beam ceiling painted with coats of arms from the Medici family.[3] The seating was inspired in part by the British Houses of Parliament,[1] and was designed so that the hall would appear occupied even when filled only to a small portion of its capacity.[15]
The southern half contains a colonnade with Ionic columns surrounding Lebus Court, home to the college's art history department and The Spirit of Spanish Music, a bronze sculpture by Burt William Johnson.[15]
The hall's current pipe organ is the Hill Memorial Organ, named after Carrie Schitker Hill.[16] It was constructed by C. B. Fisk and installed in 2001 after a planning process that lasted over a decade,[17] and has 3519 pipes over 66 ranks, weighing 20 short tons (40,000 lb; 18,000 kg).[1][16][18][19] Previously, the hall used pipe organs by M. P. Moller installed at construction and in 1939.[20]
Pomona uses Little Bridges for a variety of musical and non-musical events, including convocation, practices and performances by the Pomona College Orchestra, and guest speaker lectures.[5] The college also allows community and other outside groups to use the hall.[5] It hosts roughly 45 musical performances per year, most of which are free to all.[5]
