Hall had been scrapped. In December 2019, it was announced that the plans to renovate the Hall would finally proceed, with construction beginning in 2022. The work included acoustically and aesthetically redesigning it, removing over 500 seats, adding balcony seating wrapping around the entire stage, and making the stage tiered and moving it farther forward. Deborah Borda, the president of the New York Philharmonic, said, "We have to do it right this time, and this, I think, is the plan to do it." Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects were hired as collaborators with Diamond Schmitt to renovate the hall’s lobby and other public spaces, add more areas for viewing the plaza, socializing area with bars, and video walls for live streaming performances and other events. Plans for the hall's renovation were accelerated after Lincoln Center closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. In mid-2020, Borda announced that because of pandemic-related cancellations of performances, Lincoln Center would commence preliminary renovation work on the Hall before the Philharmonic's planned return to performances on January 6, The orchestra later canceled all scheduled performances at the Hall through June 13, 2021. On October 3, 2022, the main concert hall was renamed the Wu Tsai Theater in honor of a $50 million donation from Joseph Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai. The hall reopened on October 8, 2022, following a $550 million renovation. Acoustics Architects hired the acoustical consulting division of Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN) to design the original interior acoustics for the hall. Their acousticians recommended a 2,400 seat "shoebox" design with narrowly spaced parallel sides (similar in shape to the acoustically acclaimed Symphony Hall, Boston). Lincoln Center officials initially agreed with the recommendation, and BBN provided a series of design specifications and recommendations. However, the New York Herald Tribune began a campaign to increase the seating capacity of the new hall and late in the design stage it was expanded to accommodate the critics' desires, invalidating much of BBN's acoustical work. BBN engineers told Lincoln Center management the hall would sound different from their initial intent, but they could not predict what the changes would do. The first of Lincoln Center's buildings to be completed, Philharmonic Hall opened September 23, 1962, to mixed reviews. The concert, featuring Leonard Bernstein, the New York Philharmonic, and a host of operatic stars such as Eileen Farrell and Robert Merrill, was