Not Shellshocked

Bravo to the Los Angeles Philharmonic for a sensitive and sensible plan to replace the dilapidated shell that has lost its relevance to current needs. Bravo also to music critic Mark Swed and architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff for recognizing this need and supporting the change (“The Once and Future Hollywood Bowl,” Sept. 9).

It is now time for those in the historic preservation community to lend their support to the effort. The bane of a healthy historic preservation movement is misguided preservation that seeks to save every object, no matter how far gone, and lose what’s significant in the process. The physical object to save in this effort is the amphitheater, which happily will remain in the new plan. But there’s a more intangible asset that needs preservation: the Los Angeles Philharmonic itself. It’s time for all of Los Angeles’ citizens to unite behind our world-class ensemble and give them the setting they need to inspire us from June through September each year of the new millennium!

RODNEY PUNT

Santa Monica

Punt is former historic preservation officer, City of Los Angeles.

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Everyone seems to be missing the goal of the renovation: to make going to the Bowl a more pleasant experience for music fans.

Here are some suggestions with that goal in mind:

* Work with the Federal Aviation Administration to enforce bans on flyovers. If this doesn’t work, how about mounting anti-aircraft batteries on the hills surrounding the Bowl?

* Erect a sound wall next to the Hollywood Freeway. That sound is particularly distracting during quiet passages.

* Dissolve the Patina food service contract. We were late to our seats last week because of the poor service.

* Do something about the car alarms in the parking lot behind the dome. How about ticketing those cars that offend?

Does this sound radical or cranky? I think that concert-goers have that right, given the high ticket prices.

DENNIS HAHN

Sherman Oaks

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What is the solution to the acoustics in the Hollywood Bowl? Pretend that the Bowl isn’t there and go to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and enjoy music the way it should be listened to!

At the Hollywood Bowl, not only are the acoustics bad, but the audience is lousy.

ROBERT PETERSON

Woodland Hills

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The history and tradition of the Hollywood Bowl is more than a well-known shell. It is the experience of a place where people and music come together in the open air. Like microphones and speakers, the shell is a tool to bring music to the listeners. The music, the musicians and the audience deserve the very best acoustical system.

Losing the Hollywood Bowl would be a travesty; replacing an outdated shell is not. John Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra deserve our full support.

RODGER MAXWELL

Sylmar

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If you were changing the shell to a square, I could understand the controversy. But the proposal is to change from an old shell to a new shell. So what the shell’s the problem?

MARLENE BRONSON

Santa Monica