Architects from Silling Associates unveiled plans Tuesday morning for what will be called the Schoenbaum Stage -- large enough to hold the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra -- to be built beside the Kanawha River at the base of the Haddad amphitheater.

Designers from Silling and GAI Consultants Inc. drew up preliminary plans for such a stage earlier this year for the city's Riverfront Committee. But they moved the project to the back burner after learning the $2.4 million federal earmark Sen. Robert C. Byrd obtained for park improvements would cover only higher-priority items -- the canopy, a pavilion/overlook at the foot of Court Street and a floating dock for small boats.

Using series of slides, Ed Weber of Silling Associates described some of the features of the stage to members of the city's Riverfront Committee Tuesday.

"A series of concrete arches will form the main structure and support the roof," Weber said. Strings of LED lights on the ribs of the arches "will be a beacon or lantern visible from South Hills." The roof will use the same flexible Teflon-coated plastic as the planned canopy over the amphitheater.

Designers eliminated permanent dressing rooms on both sides of the stage for budget reasons, Weber said. But, if needed, temporary tent-type dressing rooms could be set up for performances.

Committee members approved the conceptual design Tuesday, allowing the consultants to move forward on the stage.

Schoenbaum's gift -- $350,000 from the Schoenbaum Fund -- will pay most of the estimated $500,000 cost of the stage, City Manager David Molgaard said. "I'm confident [City] Council can come up with the remaining $150,000."

The late Alex Schoenbaum, Betty's husband, set up the fund for parks and recreation, she said. "He was very wise.

"I want to thank Silling Associates for this beautiful design," Schoenbaum said. "We don't have the arch like St. Louis, but we will have this, and it's big enough for the symphony, which is important. Anything that can improve Charleston will help bring business and industry to the city."

Mayor Danny Jones thanked Schoenbaum, who attended the meeting Tuesday at City Hall.

"We're more grateful than you'll ever know," Jones said. "It'll be one of the mainstays of our city."

Meanwhile, engineers from GAI are closer to choosing a company to design and build the canopy, David Gilmore said. Four firms of the six that applied a month ago are still in the running, he said.

"We reviewed their technical proposals. We interviewed them last week and they're coming into town next week to make formal presentations. A final decision could be made somewhere in the week of July 13."

Contractors could break ground for work on the canopy foundations in late August or September, and work on the canopy could start in October, Gilmore said.

The consultants plan to seek bids for design/build teams for the Court Street pavilion and park-area streetscape work in about three weeks, he said. "Then we'll go into design for the stage and boat dock."