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In Memoriam: Rodney Smith

By Tammy Koolbeck posted 03-28-2011 21:18

  

IAVM lost another dear friend yesterday with the unexpected death of longtime member, Rodney Smith.  The news from the San Antonio newspaper:

Rodney J. Smith, managing director of the Bexar County Performing Arts Center Foundation, died of an apparent heart attack Sunday afternoon in San Antonio.

The 58-year-old arts professional leading the multimillion-dollar renovation of the Municipal Center into the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts had been on the job since 2009.

“I'm just stunned,” said J. Bruce Bugg Jr., chairman and president of the foundation.

“This is a sad and tragic day,” he added. “Rodney Smith was a warm and wonderful friend. He had become an integral part of our community in only a few short months. He was uniquely qualified to oversee restoration of the Municipal Auditorium. We couldn't have found a better person for the job.”

Bugg, who was asked to come to Smith's apartment late Sunday night, said Smith apparently had experienced indigestion Saturday but otherwise had not shown any other sign of illness.

“None,” Bugg said in response to the question, “That's why it was such a shock to me.”

An autopsy is being conducted, he said.

Smith’s wife, Donna, who had been living in Denver and making plans to move to the Alamo City, was arriving in the city midday. He has one son, Nicholas Smith; a daughter, Chelsea Marx, and grandson Kieran Marx.

Bugg met with the staff of the Tobin Center early Monday morning to tell them of Smith's death.

“I reassured them that in the spirit of Rodney Smith, we're going to carry on with the project,” he said.

The Tobin Center will break ground in May and is expected to be completed in spring 2014.

The center's design team, made up of professionals across the country, also had been informed.

Bugg said Smith brought important qualifications to the job.

“We asked Rodney to join us in 2009, because he had expertise in two key areas,” Bugg said. “He had been involved in building a performing arts center. Second, we wanted to have someone who had had experience in operating a successful performing arts center. Rodney Smith was uniquely qualified to do both.”

The center is being funded with $100 million of Bexar County tax revenue and more than $32 million in private money.

A press release from the foundation noted that Smith had been executive director for the Division of University Events at the University of Denver, where he had been a longtime resident, and was former general manager of the Denver Performing Arts Complex.

Smith, who also had experience in theater design, had a master's degree in scenic and lighting design from San Jose State University and had worked in the industry for 30 years.

Funeral arrangements are pending.



Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Performing-arts-center-s-director-dead-1310794.php#ixzz1Hw5J4qjG

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