NY Philharmonic's David Geffen Hall
(c) Remy Franck
The Lincoln Center in New York plans to rename its Avery Fisher Hall. The management asked the Fisher family to agree to the name change and sweetened the proposal made to the descendants of the well known benefactor by paying the family $15 million for permission to drop the name. The reason is that Lincoln Center looks for a major sponsor to cover a planned $500 million renovation with the promise of giving the building the name of that person or institution. Avery Fisher (1906-1994) financed the 1973 renovation of the building with a donation of $10.5 million. He would probably not be amused that his three children sell his name for $5 million each.
